Is council's cut-price purchase of House of Fraser building in Freshney Place the deal of the decade?

 

Value of the former department store building has slumped over the past six years

THE purchase of the former House of Fraser department building in Grimsby's Freshney Place looks like a smart bit of of business by North East Lincolnshire Council.

In 2017, when it was still trading as a department store, the property was valued at £12.75-million.

But then customers' shopping practices changed, and there was Covid.

When the property, which also fronts Victoria Street,  was brought back to the market earlier this year, offers were sought in excess of £500,000 by the owners, believed to be the asset managers of Cheshire West and Chester Council pension fund.

NELC was tempted to swoop but held back while it undertook scrutiny - including drone surveys - of the fabric of the property which accommodates an expansive 92,318 sq. ft.

Earlier this month , it resolved to do the deal for the "strategically important" building - but only after the price had fallen further to £350,000.

Now, the Grimsby News understands, the legalities have been completed and the authority holds the keys to the shop.

The property is adjacent to where there is a scheme for a Parkway cinema and a new market hall.

Its main value  rests on the ground floor where there are extensive shop and eaterie opportunities.

Securing occupants for the upper floors might be more problematic but, to minimise outgoings,  they could be mothballed until interest emerges.

The council is confident the acquisition will allow it  to enhance the Victoria Street frontage, improve  retail/culture/leisure in such a way as to support a vibrant town centre.

It also mitigate the risk of an opportunistic private speculator buying the property on the cheap and letting deteriorate until it can be sold on at profit who knows when.