New council base for Scarborough offers town centre regen options

North Yorkshire Council has approved the off-market purchase of Resolution House from current owner Anglo American, opening up the potential for a leisure operator to invest in its current Town Hall base.

Anglo American has previously marketed the building for £4.5m, however there is no publicly confirmed figure for what has been agreed with the council.

A report shared with NYC’s executive committee states: “Releasing the Scarborough Town Hall site in particular has the potential to generate substantial economic benefit.

​“The site sits adjacent to the former Futurist site, and site assembly in South Bay will create an extensive development opportunity which links the town centre with the shore.

​“The site is a prime location and will have unrivalled views, making it very attractive for a quality commercial leisure development. Indeed, there has been historic interest in this area from major national and regional operators.”

Staff located in Scarborough have been operating out of the Town Hall, which along with other council-owned buildings in the town, is in a poor condition with running costs of around £1m per year.

Estimates gathered from the council put the investment needed to bring the Town Hall back to life at around £15-19m.

As well as approving the proposal to purchase Resolution House, councillors at the executive meeting also agreed to invest up to £750,000 to help progress redevelopment proposals on vacant sites and support the possible creation of new customer service points in Scarborough and Malton town centres.

The report states: “It is essential that this development complements the wider regeneration of Scarborough, and it is recommended that a masterplan is developed to ensure that the South Bay development and other strategic town centre sites work together to reposition Scarborough town centre, addressing vacancy rates, the quality of the leisure and family offer and providing much-needed community facilities…

“To prevent further long-term underutilisation, there is a clear need to progress masterplanning and redevelopment proposals at pace and to begin identifying potential development partner(s).

​“It is therefore recommended that a provisional budget be made available to fund the costs associated with advancing these proposals, enabling redevelopment to be brought forward as quickly as possible.”

Council deputy leader, Cllr Gareth Dadd, whose responsibilities include property, said: “We remain absolutely committed to supporting Scarborough town centre, and the potential purchase Resolution House does not change that.

“Unfortunately, we inherited a large number of buildings in a poor condition suffering from under-investment and some major health and safety issues from the former borough council. Running costs as a result are up to £1m a year.

“Scarborough Town Hall in particular provides significant challenges with 80 per cent of the available floor space unused due to its deteriorating condition. It is estimated that it would cost up to £19 million to modernise and bring the Town Hall up to standard.

“Purchasing Resolution House is too good an opportunity to miss and would help us to make savings of up to £400,000 each year, while ensuring that our estate is modern, affordable and fit for the future.

“But this does not mean that we are vacating Scarborough, far from it. A small number of staff can continue to safely operate from the Town Hall and the 100 staff currently working in Castle House will remain.

“Earlier this week, the council leader and chief executive also met with the Mayor of Scarborough to offer reassurance that the Town Hall can continue to be used by the town council.

“We cannot stand still. We have to be dynamic and flexible to help our town centres and high streets thrive in the years to come.

“Continuing to run expensive, deteriorating buildings that are no longer fit-for-purpose can only stifle investment and blight our high streets in the long term.

“That’s why it’s crucial that we carefully look at the future of these sites, working closely with our staff, stakeholders and partners, to see what is possible and accelerate redevelopment where it is possible to do so.”