News: Council selling bank building for £1
Rotherham Council's cabinet has agreed to sell of a former bank building for just £1 so that a regeneration scheme can go ahead in the town centre.
Rothbiz reported earlier this month that the former Lloyds bank at 32-34 Corporation Street was being sold as part of wider redevelopment in the area.
The authority acquired the property back in 2006 for an undisclosed sum using its allocation from the Yorkshire Forward Single Pot but the economic downturn and a reduction in available funding has seen it sit empty ever since.
Cabinet papers explain that the property will be disposed of to a private sector individual who owns the neighbouring properties who will then lead on the delivery of the development scheme at 30-38 Corporation Street - which includes the also vacant former NatWest branch next door.
If it all goes to plan, the scheme could create 16 new residential properties and 12,300 sq ft of commercial space at the gateway to the emerging Leisure & Cultural Quarter on Corporation Street.
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The scheme is set to retain, refurbish and repurpose the landmark former NatWest bank for commercial uses and it is due to be completed in 2024.
Paul Woodcock, Strategic Director for Regeneration and Environment at Rotherham Council, confirmed the pound price at a cabinet meeting. He said: “In essence, the recommendation is to transfer that asset to the private owner for a larger development to take place.
“With the site overlooking Forge Island, and the plans for the car park below, this is a key part of those redevelopment plans.”
Woodcock also confirmed that conditions will be included in the deal to ensure the redevelopment of the property is completed in a timely manner and to a good standard.
The regeneration scheme is part of the proposals announced when £31.6m in Town Deal funding was secured last year. The sale for £1 levers in the external funding and the private sector match funding.
Images: Google Maps
Rothbiz reported earlier this month that the former Lloyds bank at 32-34 Corporation Street was being sold as part of wider redevelopment in the area.
The authority acquired the property back in 2006 for an undisclosed sum using its allocation from the Yorkshire Forward Single Pot but the economic downturn and a reduction in available funding has seen it sit empty ever since.
Cabinet papers explain that the property will be disposed of to a private sector individual who owns the neighbouring properties who will then lead on the delivery of the development scheme at 30-38 Corporation Street - which includes the also vacant former NatWest branch next door.
If it all goes to plan, the scheme could create 16 new residential properties and 12,300 sq ft of commercial space at the gateway to the emerging Leisure & Cultural Quarter on Corporation Street.
Advertisement
The scheme is set to retain, refurbish and repurpose the landmark former NatWest bank for commercial uses and it is due to be completed in 2024.
Paul Woodcock, Strategic Director for Regeneration and Environment at Rotherham Council, confirmed the pound price at a cabinet meeting. He said: “In essence, the recommendation is to transfer that asset to the private owner for a larger development to take place.
“With the site overlooking Forge Island, and the plans for the car park below, this is a key part of those redevelopment plans.”
Woodcock also confirmed that conditions will be included in the deal to ensure the redevelopment of the property is completed in a timely manner and to a good standard.
The regeneration scheme is part of the proposals announced when £31.6m in Town Deal funding was secured last year. The sale for £1 levers in the external funding and the private sector match funding.
Images: Google Maps
12 comments:
Great news.
Forward thinking from the council for regeneration of the town centre.
Well done.
I wonder who owns the adjacent property?....
Can never get this place as lively as Doncaster,Sheffield or Barnsley however you try.Little backwater town filled with junkies n druggies.Bet none of the new establishmwnts will stay for more than 3 years before deciding enough is enough.
Comparing Rotherham to 2 cities and a much larger town is irrelevant. Good on the council for pressing ahead with the redevelopment.
"a much larger town"? Barnsley is smaller than Rotherham.
Come on, Doncaster has only officially been a city since last month, and Barnsley (both town and Metropolitan Borough) has a smaller population than that of Rotherham. The comparison is fair.
Lol , Rotherham is larger than Barnsley,and Doncaster only as a lager population due to larger borough are ,ie loads of outlying villages.Problem Rotherham as ,is it close proximity to Sheffield,many years of poor administration..and it's a dumping ground for every waif ,druggy amd criminal both home grown and imported,there lies the real problem!
They sold the property for £1?!!!! Surely it would have done 100k plus on the open market!!! Disgusting !!
Exactly this, giving property away for private investors to make a profit. Give it time and those same developers will be back asking for a hand out to finish the development when they 'run out' of funds.
I was wondering how long it would be before the obligatory "It's the fault of anyone who looks than me, they're all bad" comment. Sigh.
Can the first person who posted expand on why they think this is "great news"? A forward thinking council would do everything they can to keep buildings like this rather than tear them down.
Instead, RMBC have once again used public money (our money, paid through taxes) so that they can push forward with badly thought out scheme that, by the council's own admission is not commercially viable and one that will only further add to the ghettoisation of the town centre.
At the same time, the eyesores on the bottom of Corporation Street still stand and the owners are running rings around the good ship RMBC.
Someone stands to make a lot of money out of this scheme, and you can bet your bottom dollar that it won't be RMBC.
Got to agree with this, the clowncil really don’t have a clue how to make money from assets, they are good at unfinished projects though!
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