Underused and vacant properties across Scarborough town centre will be part of a new market engagement exercise to find a master developer to transform the town.
Prominent vacant and underused sites across Scarborough town centre will be explored for major redevelopment following the approval of a new market engagement exercise.
North Yorkshire Council's executive committee has backed plans to seek a development partner to take on a master developer role for multiple locations. The scheme aims to bring empty properties into active social, economic, or residential use while creating a connected and sustainable town centre.
Priority sites identified for the project include Pavilion House, Station Corner, the Town Hall, the former Futurist Theatre site, and the Market Hall.
Secondary sites such as Woodend Gallery, Scarborough Art Gallery, and Dean Road Depot could also be included, alongside several town centre car parks, provided the council's existing income streams are protected.
Councillor Peter Wilkinson, Executive Member for Finance, outlined the vision for the project. He said:
"This represents an important step in unlocking the long-term regeneration potential of Scarborough town centre.
Several prominent underused and vacant sites in key town centre and seafront locations are in the council ownership.
The primary goal of the market engagement is to inform the council on future opportunities and market interest in the sites and guide the council in taking forward the proposal that might best capture our objectives for the regeneration of Scarborough town centre.
The town has significant regeneration potential, which is underpinned by the strong visitor economy, heritage and leisure assets."
The initiative, set to launch in mid-October, will use a procurement framework to assess market appetite and viability without committing to financial agreements at this early stage.
Councillor Wilkinson detailed the specific locations earmarked for the project. He said:
"The proposed objectives of the market engagement process is to deliver a viable long-term development which seeks to create a more vibrant town centre by bringing vacant or underused sites into active social and economical residential use.
There are five priority in scope sites, Pavilion house, Station Corner, Town Hall, former futurist theatre site, and market hall.
In addition, there's secondary in scope sites which is the Woodend gallery, Scarborough Art Gallery, and Dean Road Depot.
Town centre car parks could be included depending on the council retaining existing income stream."
Council officials had considered selling off the empty properties individually but ultimately rejected the idea.
Explaining the decision to reject a piecemeal sell-off, Councillor Wilkinson said:
"The alternative options to not pursuing this project would be piecemeal disposal of the vacant sites. These are prominent council sites and disposal would reduce the council's influence over the uses of sites, and such option has been discounted."
The initial market testing phase will not cost the authority any money, though future phases could impact the budget.
Detailing the financial implications, Councillor Wilkinson said:
"There is no financial commitment required to carry out the proposed market engagement exercise. There could be future revenue budget implications and these will depend on the proposals that come forward, but they potentially could reduce cost for managing vacant or underused buildings, reduce backlog maintenance liabilities, and changes to ongoing cost arising for improvements of the public realm."
Local representatives have welcomed the move to accelerate progress on properties that have sat empty since being acquired by the former borough council. The Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee was previously briefed on the proposals.
Scarborough Councillor Heather Phillips welcomed the progress. She said:
"I think it's really good that the phrase regeneration potential has been used a few times because there is potential within Scarborough to make quite a bit of change.
We've got property that was acquired under the legacy authority that isn't being used at all, and is right in the town centre. So I'm really glad to see that we can actually have a a quick and effective procurement framework on this because we've consulted and consulted in Scarborough about what people would like, through various guises, but we need to actually make sure that we're making the best use of assets."
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