Issue - meetings
Sovereign Court - Change of Use Consent and Lease Extension
Meeting: 28/07/2015 - Cabinet (Item 5)
5 Sovereign Court - Change of Use Consent and Lease Extension 
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Additional documents:
Decision:
DECISION
1. To agree to the change of use under the terms of the lease from office (Use Class B1) to residential (Use Class C3) upon such terms as the Council is advised by its advisers to accept and subject to payment of a premium of £7.35m on the payment terms described in this report.
2. To authorise the Corporate Director, Development & Renewal, after consultation with the Service Head – Legal Services, to agree the final terms and conditions of any agreement or deed including a deed of variation of lease to implement the above decision.
3. To authorise the Service Head – Legal Services to execute all necessary documents to implement this decision.
Action by:
CORPORATE DIRECTOR, DEVELOPMENT AND RENEWAL (A. DALVI)
(Service Head, Corporate Property & Capital Delivery (A. Sutcliffe)
Minutes:
Councillor David Edgar, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the report. He highlighted that the developer was able to take advantage of changes to planning rules that allowed conversions to residential use without Council planning approval but that in this case the Council, as freeholder, had the ability to require payment to secure its agreement.
The pros and cons of the decision were discussed and in particular Councillor Joshua Peck, Cabinet Member for Work and Economic Growth, expressed concern over the potential impact on the provision of local jobs.
The Mayor thanked everyone for their contributions, noted the pre-scrutiny questions and stated that, on balance, he considered that the proposal should be accepted. He agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.
RESOLVED
1. To agree to the change of use under the terms of the lease from office (Use Class B1) to residential (Use Class C3) upon such terms as the Council is advised by its advisers to accept and subject to payment of a premium of £7.35m on the payment terms described in this report.
2. To authorise the Corporate Director, Development & Renewal, after consultation with the Service Head – Legal Services, to agree the final terms and conditions of any agreement or deed including a deed of variation of lease to implement the above decision.
3. To authorise the Service Head – Legal Services to execute all necessary documents to implement this decision.