Bolton Council has agreed to accept more than £542,000 less than agreed with a developer for the former Moor Lane bus station site after the project to build 208 new homes was placed under threat. In 2021, developers Step Places along with housing association Bolton at Home, were given permission to redevelop the 4.4-acre Moor Lane site, behind the iconic Le Mans Crescent.
Work to prepare the site for construction began last year. At the time of approval the developers t agreed to pay Bolton Council £1.854m for the land and transferred £925,000.
However, the balance of £927,500 is now due and the developer now says it is seeking to make a payment of just £385,000, a shortfall of £542,500. A report to Bolton Council leader Martyn Cox, who has agreed to accept the lower amount, said: “The key change from the March 2021 approval is the reduced value of the site.
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“There is a much reduced developer profit of five per cent which equates to £1.1 million. “The developer is offering £385,000 out of the remaining profit but will naturally need to retain some element of profit to cater for any other unexpected issues and deliver a financial return.”
Designed by Aew Architects, Step Places and Bolton at Home’s project would mainly be delivered on the site of the former bus station as well as two smaller plots on the other side of Black Horse Street either side of the job centre.
The former bus station area would comprise two six-storey apartment blocks each made up of 52 one-and two-bedroom flats.
44 three-bed townhouses are set fill the remainder of that plot. Two smaller areas near the job centre would house two apartment buildings containing 60 flats, capped at four storeys due to their proximity to the listed Le Mans
Crescent.
Of the 164 apartments, 33 will be for over 55s and 27 would be designated affordable. The remaining 104 would be available for private rent.
There are also three commercial units in the plans at the corner of Cheadle Square and Queen’s Street and the corner of Ashburner Street and Queen’s Street. The report to Coun Cox, added: “The impact of changes to the building regulations in June 2022 mean that if a ‘meaningful start’ is not made in early June 2023 then the costs for the two blocks will increase by circa £2.54m rendering the scheme unviable.
“This impacts on the council’s ability to deliver the public realm being funded by the Towns Fund that provides an important selling feature for the proposed new residential neighbourhood.”
The report said that ‘the value to the council in terms of wider economic and social benefits far outweigh the undervalue of the site’. It added that accepting £542,500 less than agreed would ‘ support the continued development of the Moor Lane site’, and that ‘the council is operating with full consideration of both financial and economic factors’.
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