News: Rotherham Council sell off nets £15m
Rotherham Council has secured over £15m by selling off assets in the last two years, helping the Council address its budget challenge, but also enabling development to take place and local businesses to grow.
One of the largest deals saw developers TCN acquire the civic site in Rotherham town centre for £7.3m last year. The sale of the site of the former civic buildings and library and Drummond Street enabled £40m to be secured from property investors and work began on a new Tesco Extra store. With 66,000 sq ft of retail space, it is set to open next week.
Also in the town centre, Rotherham Council is disposing of the historic Westgate Chambers (pictured), with bids having to be in during September. Acquired in 2006, the council agreed plans to put the buildings onto the market to "seek developer interest for a predominantly residential development." It was advertised as a regeneration / development opportunity with "offers sought for a residential led scheme with an active commercial ground floor of retail / leisure / restaurant or similar."
Regarding Doncaster Gate, the council-owned former hospital which has caused public outcry when the council agreed its demolition, a report to the council's cabinet states that it is now due to be sold off in the 2015/16 financial year.
The cleared site is set to be offered back to the market with the council expecting sufficient interest to result in a redevelopment that would add to the regeneration of this edge of town centre site. In the final draft of the council's local plan, the 1.81 hectare site, that also includes a doctor's surgery, is earmarked for a mix of uses including office use, housing and residential and nonresidential institutions.
Outside of the town centre, the council has a contractual agreement with an established local company for the disposal of the former Eastwood depot. The imminent sale is expected to allow the unnamed local company to expand its current operation with the possibility of job creation in the local area. The 0.91 hectare was initially due to be used as a timber processing plant as part of the Brite Partnership's proposed biomass energy facility at Templeborough.
A deal is also in place to sell one of the new units under construction on the Advanced Manufacturing Park. Only in March did landowners and developers, Harworth Estates, sign a £4.3m forward-purchase agreement with Rotherham Council for Plots 3 and 4 of the R-evolution development on the Waverley site.
The council has also disposed of land at Mill Close to AESSEAL which should enable the award-winning manufacturer to carry out the RGF-backed expansion of its headquarters onto adjacent land. This could lead to the 300-strong workforce doubling over time.
Other assets set to be sold over the next four years include the Bellows Road shopping centre at Rawmarsh, the Victorian buildings at Clifton Court, Doncaster Gate (currently under offer), development plots at Century Business Park and Station Road at Manvers, the site of the former Herringthorpe Leisure Centre and sites on Undergate Road, Dinnington.
A recent scrutiny review by councillors on how the Council can support the local economy said that the it should consider being more strategic with respect to assets and bring together asset management with regeneration and housing departments to create a one estate approach. However the report added that, unfortunately it "has a lack of resources for maintaining property. Most assets are being sold for the land rather than the property. There is a need to focus on an area based regeneration approach rather than just selling properties."
Images: RMBC
One of the largest deals saw developers TCN acquire the civic site in Rotherham town centre for £7.3m last year. The sale of the site of the former civic buildings and library and Drummond Street enabled £40m to be secured from property investors and work began on a new Tesco Extra store. With 66,000 sq ft of retail space, it is set to open next week.
Also in the town centre, Rotherham Council is disposing of the historic Westgate Chambers (pictured), with bids having to be in during September. Acquired in 2006, the council agreed plans to put the buildings onto the market to "seek developer interest for a predominantly residential development." It was advertised as a regeneration / development opportunity with "offers sought for a residential led scheme with an active commercial ground floor of retail / leisure / restaurant or similar."
Regarding Doncaster Gate, the council-owned former hospital which has caused public outcry when the council agreed its demolition, a report to the council's cabinet states that it is now due to be sold off in the 2015/16 financial year.
The cleared site is set to be offered back to the market with the council expecting sufficient interest to result in a redevelopment that would add to the regeneration of this edge of town centre site. In the final draft of the council's local plan, the 1.81 hectare site, that also includes a doctor's surgery, is earmarked for a mix of uses including office use, housing and residential and nonresidential institutions.
Outside of the town centre, the council has a contractual agreement with an established local company for the disposal of the former Eastwood depot. The imminent sale is expected to allow the unnamed local company to expand its current operation with the possibility of job creation in the local area. The 0.91 hectare was initially due to be used as a timber processing plant as part of the Brite Partnership's proposed biomass energy facility at Templeborough.
A deal is also in place to sell one of the new units under construction on the Advanced Manufacturing Park. Only in March did landowners and developers, Harworth Estates, sign a £4.3m forward-purchase agreement with Rotherham Council for Plots 3 and 4 of the R-evolution development on the Waverley site.
The council has also disposed of land at Mill Close to AESSEAL which should enable the award-winning manufacturer to carry out the RGF-backed expansion of its headquarters onto adjacent land. This could lead to the 300-strong workforce doubling over time.
Other assets set to be sold over the next four years include the Bellows Road shopping centre at Rawmarsh, the Victorian buildings at Clifton Court, Doncaster Gate (currently under offer), development plots at Century Business Park and Station Road at Manvers, the site of the former Herringthorpe Leisure Centre and sites on Undergate Road, Dinnington.
A recent scrutiny review by councillors on how the Council can support the local economy said that the it should consider being more strategic with respect to assets and bring together asset management with regeneration and housing departments to create a one estate approach. However the report added that, unfortunately it "has a lack of resources for maintaining property. Most assets are being sold for the land rather than the property. There is a need to focus on an area based regeneration approach rather than just selling properties."
Images: RMBC
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