Up to £8m loan considered for Scarborough's former Brunswick Centre
The plans include a six-screen cinema, a family leisure attraction and new shops
Up to £8m in loan funding could help kickstart plans to turn the former Brunswick Centre in Scarborough into a leisure, retail and hospitality destination.
North Yorkshire Council's executive will meet on Tuesday 27th October to consider allocating the loan to the developer, Scarborough Group International.
The proposed redevelopment would include a six-screen cinema, a family-focused indoor leisure attraction, food and drink outlets and new retail units.
The council says the aim is to bring a key town centre site back into use and create a year-round destination for local people and visitors.
How the funding would work
If the plans are approved, the council would contribute an initial £1m.
That would be matched by funding from the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and the Pride in Place programme, which is overseen by the Scarborough Neighbourhood Board.
Together, they would create a £3m package for pre-development work.
The council says that would cover detailed design work, investigations into the existing structure, internal demolition of parts of the centre and the preparation of a new planning application.
The plan has an identified funding gap of £10.5m and also needs £8m in public sector loan funding to help attract commercial investment.
The executive will be asked to approve in principle a public funding package of £10.5m in grant funding from Pride in Place and the combined authority, alongside the £8m loan from the council.
Members will also be asked to delegate responsibility for releasing each tranche of funding to the council's interim director of resources, in consultation with the executive member for finance and resources.
The council says its funding would only be provided if the combined authority and Scarborough Neighbourhood Board funding is agreed, and robust safeguards and comprehensive due diligence checks are met.
If funding is approved, the council says the next phase of work is expected to take about 12 months before a final decision is made on whether the full redevelopment should go ahead.
What is planned
The cinema would have capacity for about 600 people.
The proposals also include up to three restaurant and food and drink units and two retail units.
The former Brunswick Centre closed in September last year.
The council says the site has been secured while plans for its future are developed.
Jobs and visitors
The council says the redevelopment is expected to create more than 400 direct jobs and about 160 jobs through the supply chain.
It is also forecast to generate up to £45m of annual spending and attract an estimated 850,000 visits a year.
According to official figures, Scarborough sees a total of 3.9 million visits each year, and the town's tourism sector is worth £579.5m to the local economy.
The council says studies it commissioned have concluded the strategic case for investment is strong.
It says a new town centre cinema is expected to help attract visitors, increase footfall, support local businesses and improve the town's leisure sector.
What the council said
Cllr Mark Crane, North Yorkshire Council's deputy leader and executive member for open to business, whose responsibilities include regeneration, economic development and the visitor economy, said: "The site of the former Brunswick Centre is in the heart of Scarborough and would be an important element for our plans for regeneration across the town and the wider coastal area."
Cllr Crane also said: "We will carefully consider the proposals next week to ensure that the best value is offered to our taxpayers in North Yorkshire before making a decision on whether the funding should be approved."