85 International Centre - Transfer of Freehold PDF 387 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Executive Member for Environment and
Finance & Governance and the Director of Finance submitted a report for the
Executive’s consideration. The purpose of the report was to present the
proposal to transfer the Council’s freehold interest of the International
Centre to a community organisation.
In 2020, the Council had granted a license for
a community interest company, The Other Perspective, to take occupation in the
International Centre. Its location was central to assisting the organisation to
serve the local community. The community interest company had also previously
requested consideration for a community asset transfer of the building.
The International Centre itself was in a very
poor state of repair. Currently, the community interest company could only
occupy a small number of rooms due to the poor condition within the centre. The
rooms in occupation were primarily the main downstairs hall and a small number
of offices on the ground floor. The remaining majority of the property had
significant issues with water ingress, damp, lack or reliable heating, broken
windows, roof leaks, plaster damage amongst other concerns.
A business plan had been submitted by The Other
Perspective outlining the initiatives to be delivered from the International
Centre, those were supported by the Council and planned to strengthen the
community development offer within the town. The initiatives included local
participation, and incorporated a series of projects through social enterprise
to support the development of employment opportunities, training and
enterprise. In order to successfully deliver the vision, the International
Centre was integral. It was therefore proposed that, rather than simply
regenerate, the Council transfer its freehold interest to allow the community
interest company to bid for funding to both regenerate and redevelop the asset
to meet the needs of the proposals put forward.
An Asset Disposal Business Case, confirming the
status of the subject property as surplus to operational Council requirements,
was attached as Appendix B.
OPTIONS
Re-use
for operational purposes
No
Council operational service requirement had been identified. The Council would
have required the asset for polling station purposes, however, it had been
agreed that fell within the remit of community benefit and the building would
be made available to the Council for that purpose.
Community
Asset Transfer on 25 year lease
That
remained a viable option, but not the desirable one. The Community Asset
transfer on a long-term lease would not have offered the same attraction to
external funders as the transfer of the freehold interest. Upon transfer of the
freehold interest the Council would place a covenant on the property which
would require that the asset may only be used for community use, which would
prevent any further re-sale or redevelopment for profit. In addition, there
would be a requirement that if funds were not secured within a three year
period for the regeneration of the asset the organisation would be required to
transfer it back to the Council.
Council
Complete Repairs and look to offer Commercial let or sale
The Council would have needed to invest significant resources to ... view the full minutes text for item 85