Speaking on stand at 1630 today (Wednesday March 14th 2018) in the Manchester Pavilion at the international property conference, MIPIM, being held in Cannes this week, Oldham Council’s Director of Economy and Skills, Tom Stannard, is set to announce that plans confirming Oldham Council’s town centre masterplan will take a step nearer when they are put before a Cabinet meeting on Monday 26th March. The Council is seeking to garner interest from potential investment and development partners in the upcoming procurement process.
The plans, which are expected to be approved by Cabinet, would provide the green-light to procure a development partner to work with them on this ambitious 21 acre / 8.4 hectare project to transform Oldham town centre over a ten to fifteen year delivery period.
The Council initially announced outline plans for the masterplan last year and since then they have undertaken a public consultation and listened to feedback to refine the plans further, as well as working closely with Cushman & Wakefield to finalise the scheme based on anticipated market requirements and conditions.
Following approval, it is projected that an OJEU notice will be triggered in June 2018 with the selection of a preferred partner in autumn 2019 following a competitive dialogue process. Start on site is expected to commence immediately upon selection of a preferred partner in late 2019.
The masterplan centres on significant areas of publicly-owned land where many sites are under utilised or have buildings coming to the end of their economic life.
Totaling around 8.4 hectares in size, these include Tommyfield Market, the civic centre, police station, the former sports centre, magistrates’ court, and the current Oldham Coliseum theatre.
Plans include:
– 900 residential units
– new retail/leisure, including a new market – 7,203 sq m
– 120 bed hotel
– new civic hub – 22,400 sq m
– new and refurbished offices – 14,351 sq m
– 600 space multi-storey car park
The benefits of the masterplan will be the building of new homes, new/refurbished employment space and economic activity worth an estimated extra £50 million each year to Oldham’s economy, as well as hundreds of new jobs.
Market traders at Tommyfield Market are set to benefit as they relocate to a temporary home. At a recent market trader meeting the Council agreed to look at how it could support traders over the next 18 months as part of a transition plan for the move into a temporary market while a new market hall is being constructed.
Cabinet has been asked to reduce the rent for traders to demonstrate the Council’s support and commitment to the market during the transition plan.
Previous masterplan proposals included the retention of the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Following further appraisal of the hall it was determined that it fell short of the required current event and conference venue standards.
The recommendation to Cabinet seeks to demolish the hall. This will mean the relocation of the proposed hotel to the site of the former Magistrates’ Court, once the Council have completed the purchase. Combined new conference facilities will then be housed on this alternative site. The remainder of the existing civic centre site will be released for redevelopment.
Jean Stretton, Oldham Council Leader, said: “This is an exciting time for Oldham and we’ve made great progress in refining our plans to bring the town centre masterplan to market.”
“We’re looking for a partner who shares our drive and ambition to make Oldham a great place to live, work and do business – and deliver on our vision for a town centre that can thrive round the clock as a place where residents want to live and spend their leisure time.
“Tommyfield Market is an important part of Oldham’s history and is important to many residents. As part of traders’ relocation during the building of the new market hall it is important we look to support them through this change before delivering a great new venue.
“Subject to Cabinet approval, further details and information on the OJEU notice and process to secure a partner will be announced shortly afterwards. We’re looking forward to selecting and working alongside our developer partner on the next stage of this vital journey for Oldham.”
Advisors to Oldham Council are Cushman & Wakefield (property), Eversheds Sutherland (legal), KPMG (financial) and the masterplan was created by Leach Rhodes Walker (architects).
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