Issue - meetings

Appendices 1, 3, 4 and 5 to the report are exempt from publication as they contain commercially confidential information (exempt under paragraph 3, Part 1, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended)).

The Cabinet received a report on the opportunity for the Council to purchase Maritime House, a 10-storey office block in the heart of Barking Town Centre, as an income-generating freehold investment with potential medium / longer term regeneration opportunities in light of the Council’s other landholdings in the immediate area.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development advised that Maritime House currently benefited from a good level of occupancy, almost exclusively by public sector organisations, and an independent valuation and the Council / Be First’s own due diligence supported the acquisition on the terms proposed in the report, which amounted to a total cost of £22.55m. 

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Approve the purchase of the Maritime House site, Linton Road, Barking, as shown edged red in the plan at Appendix 2 to the report, in accordance with the draft Heads of Terms set out in Appendix 3 to the report;

(ii)  Authorise the Strategic Director, Finance & Investment, in consultation with the Chief Legal Officer, to enter into all necessary legal documents to finalise the transaction in accordance with the draft Heads of Terms.