Bolton hunts new partners for £248m regen schemes
The council has parted ways with Beijing Construction Engineering Group International and Granite Turner and is seeking new developers for its Crompton Place, Trinity Gateway and Le Mans Crescent projects.
Bolton said it aimed to appoint new developers as early as December.
Subplot reported in August that Bolton Council was looking to end its arrangement with Bolton Regeneration, a joint venture between BCEGI and Granite Turner. The JV was meant to deliver the mixed-use Crompton Place Shopping Centre revamp, bringing in a hotel, 150 homes and 113,000 sq ft of office space. According to Deloitte’s Bolton Town Centre: Investor Prospectus report from June 2020, the gross development value for Crompton Place is £175m.
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Granite Turner, formerly known as Midia, had also secured contracts on its own to develop the council’s £40m Trinity Gateway project, which would have a 20-storey tower with 144 apartments and a six-storey building with 41,000 sq ft of office space. Granite Turner was also to deliver the £33m Le Mans Crescent, which would convert the courts into a boutique hotel.
All three schemes were part of Bolton’s £1bn regeneration masterplan, which was launched in 2017.
A “mutual agreement” was reached with BCEGI and Granite Turner to surrender their options agreements on the projects, according to the council.
The new developers will be able to start quickly, as the council owns the intellectual property assets of the previous plans, including the designs, consents, warranties and more.
“Although re-procuring development partners will extend the development process, removing all option agreements gives us a much better chance of securing a levelling up fund grant from government,” said Cllr Martyn Cox, the leader of Bolton Council.
“The work already undertaken in relation to these projects means the new developers will start from a more advanced stage than would normally be the case and will therefore be in a position to start construction as soon as possible,” he continued.
Developers will be found using the Pagabo Procurement Framework. JLL is assisting the council in the process.
In other words they are dropping the China funding… Or China have pulled thier funding. Either way its be people of Bolton who lose out with further delays to the towns regeneration.
By MJ
Bolton Council are a absolute disgrace are not fit for purpose! Over the past 40 years the town has gradually declined from one of nicest towns to an absolute rat filled dump and I don’t just mean the 4 legged kind….disastrous planning over decades violent gangs drug addicts low life’s thugs and beggers on all the main junctions. Anyone planning to come to bolton …save yourself the bother it’s doing a grand job mimicking the 3rd world in the town centre…the town has everything going for it apart from political leadership…even today they a planning to build a new school on parkland….the government need to step in and run bolton because the clown i are not capable
By Jay
Jay is spot on. It is by far the most depressing town in the whole of GM. The streets are full of litter. The town centre is full of cheap shops.I pity those winning a place at the university there.
By Elephant
Bolton is in desperate need of investment and regeneration. I was there a few weeks back and it’s desolate and depressing as a town can get. I cant believe its been left to get as bad as it has, This scheme has to go ahead.
By Jon P