Sell Haymarket Theatre for £1 to save £150,000 pa cost to taxpayer, says Leicester councillor
A disused theatre should be sold for just £1 so it no longer leaves taxpayers with a yearly bill of £150,000, a councillor has suggested.
The Haymarket Theatre closed in 2007 and efforts by Leicester City Council to find a buyer have so far failed.
The council, which is about a third of the way through a 99-year lease on the former 753-seat venue, is looking to dispose of it for £500,000.
But Liberal Democrat councillor Nigel Porter said the asking price was putting off potential purchasers.
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He urged mayor Sir Peter Soulsby to give the building away for a nominal sum so it is no longer a financial burden.
Under the terms of the lease, the council has to pay £120,000 as a service charge to the landlord – the next-door shopping centre – as well as £20,000 in rates and about £10,000 in maintenance.
Coun Porter has raised the issue at the council and it will now be investigated by one of the authority's scrutiny committees.
He said the theatre, which closed to be replaced by Curve, was an unacceptable drain on the council's resources when finances were tight.
He said: "Attempts to sell the Haymarket have been unsuccessful and each year it remains unsold it will be a huge cost.
"The asking price is obviously deterring potential buyers.
"The mayor should look at selling it for a £1 just to get it off the books. In the short term it is a loss, but if the lease continues to run its course it could cost the council millions.
"It wouldn't be the first time a council has done this and I think it makes good sense financially."
Sir Peter has previously said he would be willing to listen to reasonable offers for the property, which is being marketed as a potential museum, art gallery, cinema, meeting hall, sports venue or theatre.
He agreed there was a need to dispose of the building but said giving it away was not the answer.
The mayor also said he had been contacted by two religious organisations and a leisure firm interested in taking on the building.
"I would not say we are close to exchanging contracts but they are interested and the council is continuing to work with them," Sir Peter said. "What Nigel does not seem to have got his head around is the purchase price is not the issue. The asking price is reasonable.
"It is the large expense of refitting the building that is the challenge .
"It is a shell – all the seats have been stripped out."
However, Coun Porter said a peppercorn price would allow any interested parties to spend any money they had on a refit.
"The council would of course need to see a proper business plan but it just gives a potential buyer more of a chance to do something with a prominent city centre building that could and should be in use," he said.
Former Haymarket theatre-goer Diane Jones, 51, of Knighton, Leicester, said: "If the council has a realistic sale on the horizon then obviously it shouldn't give the place away.
"If not, it should be considered."
Angelos Minter, 19, of Highfields, Leicester, said: "It's stupid so much of our money is being spent on it. Whatever it takes, get shot of it."
Comments
by New_Walk_View
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 6:01PM
“by _The_Truth
"Which stupid council employee signed the initial contract for a 99 year lease? Its basically meant that Leicester tax payers are paying for this until the lat 21st century!"
Long leases may make sense in central London where, given the more or less uninterrupted economic growth of the last 50 years, property values are virtually guaranteed to rise over the long-term but it seems difficult to justify this one.
My guess is that it was the price the Council had to pay for the scheme which created the entire Haymarket development - not just the theatre - and was therefore a consequence of a well-intentioned attempt to invest in the city at a time when the local economy was stuttering.
The fact that, thirty years later, the Council was making plans for `Curve' before it had secured an exit strategy from the Haymarket (a venture that had become a liability), demonstrates why we desperately need greater transparency and better civic leaders.”
by jimbob6163
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 5:21PM
“The council would of course need to see a proper business plan, Why they did not who signed us up for this stupid waste of public money come on name them, they should be sacked if they are still in office.”
by anobserver
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 5:01PM
“007...and your point is ?7
Any group of like minded people who wish to have a place to worship,and have the funds to put one in place,have a right to do so.The mosques that "appear"over night,with no planning permission,comply with no health and safety basics,but get retrospective planning permision frm this council is a joke .
My point is that the objections to said places of worship,are usually based opon,site/street parking,late night noise,doors slamming and rubbish left in the street.To use the Haymarket would make sense.It even has access to public transport.That is the usual claim to use some run dow shed/factory.”
by robbc7
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 3:59PM
“Do the LCC want to sell the place to me for a 500% profit on their initial sale price? I remember this happening in 2009 and would have let them make a 100000% profit on that original sale. The fools. It makes economic sense. I mean would Sir Putrid turn his nose up at a 500% pay increase? Nah, course not.”
by Albert_Hall
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 12:49PM
“I fail to understand why the City Counci (ie us) should pay anything towards a theatre. Public money was wasted on the Phoenix and continues to be wasted on the Haymarket which closed down six years ago. The Curve has no better prospects and I predict will go the way of the Haymarket.”
by llamalamb
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 12:15PM
“One wonders, perchance if you meant "penchant". Damn those auto fill spell correcting things.”
by f007e
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 12:00PM
“a***erver - my point is to correct your assumption:
"with this councils perchance for building mosques". It would be easy for that idea to gain traction if it's not corrected, and it's entirely incorrect. That's all.”
by anobserver
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 11:43AM
“..007...your point is ?”
by f007e
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 11:26AM
“anobserver - the last time i checked it wasn't the council building mosques. They tend to be funded by the local adherents to that religion. I imagine christians, hindus and those who follow Zeus are equally free to gather enough money and wherewithal to build their own places of worship, it's just that they haven't.”
by anobserver
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 11:09AM
“It is too far from city market to be of use,sorry to say,as a meat/fish market.
BUT...
with this councils perchance for building mosques any where any place,it could be a mosque!Has easy access.Lots of parking.Cleaners to clear up the mess.NO neighbours to object to noise at night.Easy access by public transport.A win win ,surely !”