Decision details

The Cabinet will be presented with a report on the outcome of the marketing exercise for the sale of the Abbey Sports Centre site as a mixed use commercial leisure-led development and asked to approve the sale of the site to the preferred bidder.

Further to Minute 66 (19 November 2013), the Cabinet Member for Regeneration presented a report on the outcome of the initial tendering exercise for the sale of the Abbey Sports Centre site as a mixed use commercial leisure-led development and revised proposals for the site in the light of the desire for the Care City initiative to form part of any future development on the site.

Cabinet Members noted details of the bids received, via the initial tendering exercise, and considered two options for inviting revised tenders from the bidding companies which would include different degrees of provision for the Care City development in addition to commercial leisure uses, such as a cinema and restaurants.  The Cabinet Member for Regeneration also alluded to the likelihood that any housing proposals which formed part of the revised bids would most likely be for private sale only, as a means of making the overall project financially viable from the developer’s perspective, and he commented that the extent of affordable housing as part of other developments in and around the Town Centre may balance that aspect.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration referred to the opportunity costs from a financial perspective of the new proposals and commented on the key decisions that needed to be taken by NELFT to enable the Care City project to proceed.  In that regard, the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health confirmed NELFT’s commitment to the project and suggested that the discussions with the bidders could run parallel with the progression of matters through NELFT’s governance structures with a view to a report, giving a more informed position on both aspects, being presented to the Cabinet on 21 October 2014.

Cabinet resolved:

(i)  To agree to ask the three bidders to submit a revised bid on an amended brief which provides space for Care City, as set out in paragraph 6.7 of the report;

(ii)  To authorise the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services and the Chief Finance Officer, to negotiate the sale terms and complete the necessary legal agreements associated with the Care City lease;

(iii)  To agree to enter a Memorandum of Understanding with the winning bidder to leaseback the Care City space to the Council, on the terms set out in the report;

(iv)  To agree to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT) offering shell and core space within the development on terms set out in the report, subject to NELFT having an acceptable business plan outlining the capital and revenue funding to establish and run Care City; and

(v)  To note that a further report will be presented to Cabinet on 21 October 2014, which shall include details of the revised bids for the site and an update on the NELFT position.