City centre buildings are still empty in spite of talks
PROMINENT Lister Gate buildings are still empty months after Nottingham City Council said it was in talks to lease them.
The council’s Bridge Estate charity, which maintains Trent Bridge using money raised from letting out around 100 Nottingham properties, said it was in talks to rent out two Lister Gate buildings in December.
At the time, negotiations were ongoing – first the leasing of 38 Lister Gate, occupied by WH Smith before it closed in 2021. The council also wants to lease 34 Lister Gate, but an update being to a meeting yesterday revealed that little progress has been made in the talks.
The 34 Lister Gate property is still being marketed by FHP as “To Let” with the aim of securing a “short-term letting”.
The former WH Smith, meanwhile, is described as being “under offer for lease with a prospective tenant”.
Nottingham’s high street was dented by Covid and the demise of the Broadmarsh Centre following owner Intu’s collapse in 2020, with Lister Gate having paid a particularly heavy price.
The latest situation comes after a Nottingham councillor said the “clock is ticking” for the redevelopment of Lister Gate’s former M&S building, with permission for development soon to expire.
Other buildings that the Bridge Estate charity wants to make progress on include the Castle House offices at 24-30 Castle Gate, last occupied by the Nottingham Crime and Drugs Partnership’s Adult Offender Team.
The council says “heads of terms have been agreed with a prospective purchaser for disposal of the freehold interest”.
Efforts are also ongoing to lease out the Governor’s House and Judges’ Retiring Rooms on High Pavement, as well as the former Eon offices on Woolsthorpe Close. Nottingham City Homes’ former depot on Vernon Road in Old Basford has also been put up for sale, while Robin Hood Energy’s former offices on Chapel Bar are being marketed to let.