Explainer: Why sale of former TK Maxx store could unlock progress with Towns Fund projects

This image shows how the former TX Maxx store in Bridge Street, Peterborough, could appear if development plans go ahead.

Talks are still in progress over the sale of the Peterborough City Council-owned former TK Maxx building.

Approval to sell the multi-storey building that sits on the corner of Bridge Street and Bourges Boulevard was given by councillors two months ago.

But Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald, the council leader, said yesterday (Tuesday) that discussions between a developer, keen to buy the building, and the council were still in progress.

It is not known if a date has been pencilled in for the sale to be concluded.

But the council is likely to be keen to get the matter resolved as soon as possible in order to move on with its plans to create The Vine community and cultural hub.

The council bought the former TK Maxx and New Look building in 2020 with the use of Government money provided through the Towns Fund when it had originally planned to base The Vine in the empty building.

But the council changed its plans when the developer expressed an interest in the building, which the local authority had already been told would no longer be economically viable to refurbish for The Vine.

The Government has also told the council the Towns Fund money must be paid back for use on one or several of the city’s eight Towns Fund projects.

According to details held by the Land Registry, the TK Maxx property was bought for £3,975,000 by the council on December 15, 2020 from Picton UK Real Estate Trust, based in Guernsey.

News the building was to be sold was revealed by Cllr Fitzgerald in April this year.

It is understood the developer plans to transform it into a conferencing and banqueting centre with apartments and a rooftop restaurant.