The Town Council continues to be in discussions with major property company Bruntwood to secure investment for the iconic 60 King Street and bring it back into use.
Following investigations over the past 24 months, Bruntwood has determined that a scheme where the council retains the freehold of the building and secures third party investment for a commercial use of the whole building is not financially viable due to the level of investment required balanced with the potential income it would generate.
In March, the Town Council and Bruntwood agreed to explore an alternative option where the upper floors would be converted to residential use with the ground floor restored to a commercial use. This would secure the future of the building and bring the ground floor back into active use in the town centre.
Bruntwood has commissioned a detailed structural survey to inform these discussions and has liaised with potential development partners. The survey will be completed by the end of June and the viability of this option should be determined over the summer.
We know this is not as detailed an update as many would like to see. 60 King Street is a complicated building. It requires significant investment and in increasingly challenging economic times, this greatly limits the opportunities for the building. The Town Council will issue a further update following the next meeting of its Assets and Operations Committee on 30th June.