Authority seeking to secure future of Freshney Place shopping centre
MULTI-MILLION POUND BUY-OUT PLAN
A MULTI-million pound plan to buy Grimsby’s Freshney Place shopping centre has been released by North East Lincolnshire Council.
Council chiefs said they are stepping in to safeguard 1,700 jobs in the buy-out plan.
The authority is seeking to secure the future of the massive shopping centre, which went into administration earlier this year. It is currently in the hands of lenders following financial difficulties.
Grant money of over £17 million secured in the Future High Street Fund over a year ago will be used to buy the shopping centre, along with additional money from the council. Other towns have had their shopping centres bought up by local authorities.
Capreon had been retained by the receivers to continue their role as asset managers for the shopping centre.
The prospective deal will add more certainty to the £25 million transformation of the western end of the shopping centre.
That proposal, which received a Future High Streets grant of over £17m - the biggest grant in North East Lincolnshire’s history - will see a multi-screen cinema built and a new food hall and enhanced entrance way to the shopping centre off The Old Market Place and Bull Ring.
North East Lincolnshire Council and Freshney Place are expected to both contribute £5 million towards the project, with £17.2 million being provided from central government.
That money will now be used to buy Freshney Place and council chiefs will seek further funds from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to bankroll the transformation of the western entrance, according to a report to cabinet.
Queensbury Real Estate, a London-based nationally-recognised regeneration specialist, has been brought on board to deliver, having been appointed earlier in December last year.
North East Lincolnshire Council said a report, due to go before a special Cabinet meeting and then on to Full Council, outlines a desire to purchase the centre, which went into receivership earlier this year and is currently up for sale.
The report highlights the following points when saying it is vital that this course of action is taken by the council as it looks at further transforming the urban heart of Grimsby: ■ Should Freshney Place be acquired by a “passive” owner who is unwilling to invest to deliver a leisure scheme and future proof the centre, its anticipated decline would accelerate, and the centre (including Top Town Market) would undermine strategic initiatives to improve the town centre and deter inward investment. Other local authorities with similar issues have stepped in with 30 similar purchases in the last five years. Some are starting to see “significant progress in implementing their masterplans”.
■ The centre makes up 60 per cent of the town centre’s retail offer, supporting one in five jobs within that area.
■ This move will safeguard a critical part of Grimsby town centre’s economic and community infrastructure, ensuring it retains a competitive retail and service offer, and safeguarding up to 1,700 jobs within Freshney Place and Top Town Market. If successful, the centre would be run by external Asset Managers with the council taking an “armslength” approach.
■ The continued decline of Freshney Place would have a catastrophic impact on Grimsby town centre. Grimsby town centre serves a wide retail catchment population of more than 300,000 and retains an above average level of shoppers compared to other smaller town centres, according to national retail data, reflecting the lack of a competing centre locally. Therefore, Grimsby town centre plays a vital role, providing a focal point for the North East Lincolnshire area.
Grant funding from Central Government, including the Towns Fund, has already seen significant transformation in the town centre with projects still under way. These include Garth Lane, St James’ Square, the new Onside Horizon Youth Zone and the conversion of St James’ House into an E-Factor Group businesses centre and hub. To enable this regeneration to continue, Freshney Place must have a stable future.
“Freshney Place is a significant asset within the Grimsby town centre, but the council has not been able to utilise it fully to enact the transformational change it seeks within the town centre.
“Therefore, besides safeguarding against the impacts of potential closure, the council’s acquisition of Freshney Place would enable it to use it as part of the wider town centre transformation more easily,” adds the report.
The priority plan is to acquire Freshney Place using the national Future High Streets Fund (FHSF) money. The council would then bid for replacement money to continue the FHSF work at the western end of Freshney Place and Victoria Street through the “LUF (Levelling Up Funds) Round Two” process. The authority can submit one bid per parliamentary constituency, with a third ringfenced for transport in July this year.
The two other Levelling Up Fund (LUF) Round Two bids are selected projects from the Cleethorpes Masterplan and the creation of a new Transportation Hub for Grimsby Town Centre.
As the Grimsby bids are developed, people will be asked to take part in a survey which will be released next week to help the council support the bids.
Councillors will also be discussing the latest plans in the Cleethorpes masterplan and the transport hub for Grimsby as the council takes over buildings on Osborne Street and Garden Street, at a scrutiny panel next week.
Freshney Place is a significant asset within the Grimsby town centre.
Report