Town centre re-development setback

The Council's town centre re-development partner, Genr8, was given three months, to the 1 March, to provide further clarification of their ability to fund the scheme's significant pre-development costs and has failed to do so.

This is the latest setback for a troubled scheme that has seen the original chosen developer walk away after the tender process was ruled unlawful. The re-run attracted the interest of only one developer, Genr8.

With the 1 March deadline missed, a confidential report to the Council Cabinet from Rochdale Development Agency (RDA) seeks to justify an extension of the deadline for a further three months. RDA is managing the process of confirming the adequacy of the funding arrangements.

It is acknowledged that it is crucial that Genr8’s funding arrangements are validated due to the significant pre development costs of the scheme; however, there is a risk that if the Council agrees the extension and Genr8 are still unable to secure funding support before the new deadline, the scheme would face further delays with potentially serious consequences.

If an extension of the deadline is not given, and the Council withdraws from discussions with Genr8, the Council would then have to find another development partner and due to the current economic situation, and the consequent low level of interest, it is likely to prove very difficult - expert advice is that a wait of 12 months would be advisable before offering the scheme to the market again. This would delay the redevelopment by at least 18 months, even if another suitable partner could be found, and such a delay could have serious knock on effects, for example, it could cause GMPTE problems with progressing the funding of the Transport Interchange, which in turn could cause problems in bringing Metrolink to town.

The decision on the deadline extension will be taken behind closed doors at a meeting of the Cabinet on Monday 22 March - the press and public will be excluded from witnessing any of the discussion.