The purchase of Grimsby’s Freshney Place shopping centre by North East Lincolnshire Council has completed.
And the distressed purchase - the county’s largest covered mall was placed into receivership at the start of the year - has come with a firm vow from the local authority leader to redevelop it and the immediate surrounds, ensuring a “real mix within the urban heart of Grimsby”.
Assurances have also been given to the council tax paying public that it is a move at no direct cost to them, with a combination of grant-funding and rent revenue covering associated costs.
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External professionals are now being hired to manage the centre day-to-day, as the authority continues its medium and long-term look at what is needed to transform the town centre.
Cllr Philip Jackson, leader of NELC, said: “Freshney Place is a huge space in our town centre, and we must ensure it has a stable future and is owned by those who have the interests of Grimsby at its very core. Yes, we must be prudent and responsible and I want to assure the people of North East Lincolnshire that this decision was not taken lightly.
“Significant work has been undertaken to assure this is well conceived and affordable, with no direct financial impact upon or subsidy required from our local council taxpayers. We have also followed a lead taken by other local authorities, which have been successful with similar investments.
“What it provides is a unique opportunity. The centre will be run by an experienced and professional company, with us taking an arms-length approach. This will allow us to look at a way forward for the whole of the centre and the town itself. We are on the cusp of real re-invention here, to diversify and look at different ways we can use Freshney Place and its surrounds."
Borough-headquartered Parkway Entertainment Company has signed a deal to operate it, while Horizon OnSide Youth Zone is described as progressing well with its plans to redevelop the historic West Haven Maltings, with the aim of providing sport, art, music, media, dance, drama, cooking, employability and enterprise workshops for thousands of young people. E-Factor is also developing St James’ House - another neighbouring property - as a business hub, adding to its portfolio.
With a catchment area of more than 300,000 people and a town centre shopper population of more than 170,000 - based on those living within a 20-minute drive,Freshney Place supports 1,700 full and part time jobs – representing one in five of all jobs within Grimsby town centre.
“Job retention and creation is something that is close to the council’s heart”, Mr Jackson said, having stressed how the decision to buy was driven by a need to protect a vital asset, preventing it falling into the hands of owners who may not have seen Grimsby’s transformation as a priority.
Receivers Cushman and Wakefield were appointed in January, days after fashion retailer New Look announced it was leaving. It occupied one of the largest units in the complex, having been a Woolworths when the £55 million transformation of what had been the open-air Riverhead Centre was initiated by owner Hammerson in the late-Eighties.
Freshney Place was bought by the Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor property company for almost £100 million in 2002. It changed hands again in 2013, with F&C Reit taking it on as part of a portfolio swoop valued at £246 million, alongside precincts in Scotland and Derbyshire. F&C Reit merged with BMO Real Estate in 2014, with Capreon, the previous owner, then spinning off in 2017.
It was openly marketed a year later with a £70 million figure outlined - but such has been the acceleration of online shopping the undisclosed figure is understood to be around a quarter of that.
A bid has now been made to central government for additional support to bring forward the cinema and leisure plan - money had been diverted from the initial successful application to fund the acquisition. It is one of three submitted to attempt to attract Levelling Up Fund monies, with Cleethorpes Masterplan and a transport hub alongside. All are around the £20 million mark.
Cllr Jackson said: “Our ambition is real, and matches that of the people of this borough who have engaged in the process over the years and helped us shape the future of our towns.
“However, we must wait for the Government’s decision on these later in the year. There will no doubt be a lot of authorities submitting bids – indeed in the first round, there were more than 300 bids, and just over 100 awards. It’s a competitive process, and one which we’re not guaranteed anything, but we’ve done our best to put forward great cases as to why money should come here and support these projects.”
Grimsby was the pilot town deal location back in 2018, but by the time the bid results are announced, a third Prime Minister will be in post.
Cllr Jackson added: “Through these bids, we have put forward ways in which we can make real, positive change that will benefit our town centre economy in Grimsby and our local and visitor economy in Cleethorpes for years to come. We now look forward to what we hope will be a successful bidding round and we can move forward with the projects.”
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