Purpose

This Officer Decision Record (ODR) has been
completed to follow up on the agreement made by ODR (Decision
Reference EE22 0714), in relation to the sale of St James Baths. A
decision is required to allow the use of Levelling up Funding (LUF)
monies to develop the St James Baths Grade II listed former
swimming baths, to support Luke Holdings Ltd in the building
development in a two-phased approach over 4 years

As detailed in the Decision Record outlined above, the Grade II
Listed former swimming baths and health club (St James Baths),
marketed since December 2019, has been vacant since it was closed
to the public in 2013. It is in need of substantial repair and
maintenance, and despite requiring substantial work, Luke Holdings
Ltd has outlined a proposition to develop the buildingin a
two-phased approach, using both private sector and LUF
funding.

The details of the two-phased approach to the development are
thus.
1. Phase one includes retaining, restoring and converting the Baths
for a variety of potential
leisure uses, including:
a. Pool
b. Spa
c. Pop-up food and / or beverage offering
d. Ancillary boutique retail offering
2. Phase two is a new build to provide residential
apartments.

Content

To provide £322,809 as the first
instalment of funding to Luke Holdings Ltd, using Levelling Up
Funding grant and to enter into the initial funding
agreement.
This initial payment is intended to be the first of a series of
instalments the Council will make to Luke Holdings Ltd, up to a
value of £938,211. The terms of the further instalments will
be subject to negotiation and progress monitoring and will be set
out and agreed in subsequent ODR(s).

Alternative options considered

There are two alternative options available to
the Council and these are set out below:
Option 1 – provide up-front funding of £938,211
This option has been rejected as, although it does comply with the
Subsidy Control Act 2022 it is considered to be too risky.

Option 2 – decline the funding and the approach This option
has been rejected as viability issues have deterred a number of
interested parties from bidding on this development, and Luke
Holdings Ltd has committed to this development using private sector
funding alongside LUF funding. Rejecting this approach, and risking
the need to re-market, would involve additional Council marketing
expenditure and would risk further deterioration of the
building.