Land to be leased for major projects
Scarborough Council has decided to lease some of its land at Scarborough West Pier, the old Comet store, Pavilion House and locations in Whitby as part of the major Town Deal projects.
Following “in principle” approval from the council leader, Cllr Steve Siddons, on August 15, the search for companies and organisations to lease council land set to form parts of the Town Deal projects will begin.
Scarborough Council was awarded £20.2m of Town Deal funding for Scarborough, and £17.1m of Town Deal funding for Whitby, to deliver a programme of projects in support of “long-term economic growth earlier this year”.
The “in principle” approval of the lease of council land concerns Endeavour Wharf at Whitby Maritime Training Hub, Whitby Old Town Hall, West Pier Properties at Scarborough’s West Pier, the FabLab+ Comet Building, and Pavilion House at Station Gateway, but the properties will not be sold.
A report presented to the council leader on August 15 states: “If approved, the council will seek to identify and select preferred tenants by way of competitive tender and work with the selected tenderers to develop the detailed designs for each of the schemes before entering into agreements for lease and commencing project implementation.
“This is considered critical to ensuring the projects are developed in line with operator and tenant requirements and to help to ensure the sustainability of the resulting schemes.”
Potential lessees would take on management and operation of the properties once constructed and developed, although the land and property will remain in the ownership of the council.
In August the council also allocated a further £600,000 for its railway station “gateway” redevelopment, increasing the approved budget to £1.1m, which will be funded from the already accepted £6.68m Towns Fund Grant allocated towards the project.
The authority has also applied to the Government for an additional £20m of fund
ing to progress the FabLab+ and Pavilion House projects, which are envisioned to serve as high quality commercial office space and as a "one-stop shop" for public access to a range of services, respectively.
The report also states that the procurement of lessees for the Town Deal sites will “enable the council to identify the financial implications” such as potential rental return, operating costs, and overheads.
The agreements for leases will be subject to further approval from the leader, cabinet members, or council.
Once a preferred tenderer has been selected for each of the schemes, terms will be negotiated and simultaneously, “detailed designs will be developed” with the intention that finalised agreements for the leases will be completed before relevant construction works begin.
Information about the leasing of the sites will be published via the council’s digital media channels, through the resident news, and via “traditional media formats”.
The Town Deal projects are also subject to “extensive and ongoing consultations”, according to the authority.