Peterborough City Council agrees 'mutually acceptable price' for Hereward Cross Shopping Centre land
The council is selling assets to support its finances
A “mutually acceptable price” has been agreed between Peterborough City Council (PCC) and a “successful bidder” for land occupied by the Hereward Cross Shopping Centre, council documents say.
The price has not been disclosed.
The land’s current occupant, Pelican Partners (Peterborough) Ltd which leases it out to shops, signed a 200-year lease with the council in 2015, but will give it up after less than a decade.
The sale will lose the council £70,000 per year in rent, but will help it meet its budget targets in the short-term, the documents say.
PCC will also continue to collect rent from Tesco in the shopping centre as the sale doesn’t include all of its land at the site.
Cllr Andy Coles (Conservatives), PCC’s cabinet member for finance, said that the council considered the sale “carefully” and concluded that it’s an “opportune time” to sell with significant interest in the deal.
The council agreed to sell some of its assets in September last year to support its finances, with Hereward Cross marked as a possible option.
This is preferable to borrowing, the council says, which will be avoided where possible.
Among the shops at the small city centre shopping centre are Poundland and Wilko.
There are also several clothes shops as well as Tesco.
The details of the deal are still being finalised but have been signed off by PCC’s Cabinet.