A city council has given a hotel group six weeks to start renovation work on a neglected former fire station before it takes legal action to acquire the listed landmark building.
Manchester City Council served a compulsory purchase order (CPO) against Britannia Centres — which owns the 108-year-old London Road Fire Station — in 2010, but this was rejected by the Government after a public inquiry. That attempt landed the authority with £1.5m in legal fees when it was ordered to cover Britannia’s costs.
Since then the authority claims the company has done little to press ahead with its long-standing plans to transform what architectural experts claim is one of Britain’s “most threatened” landmarks into a four-star, 230-bedroom hotel. Britannia says it has been delayed by the recession and continuing financial uncertainty.
Hale-based Britannia has owned the building since 1986 and has had several redevelopment plans approved. Last December it was granted a renewal of permission for a scheme originally approved in 2010.
A report prepared this summer by council officials says: “Significant correspondence has been exchanged and meeting suggestions made about possible new schemes being brought forward, but no substantive action in taking redevelopment forward has been forthcoming … The lack of genuine intention to develop the building is further underlined by the most recent engagement with Britannia Centres Ltd (BCL).”
The council has, on several occasions, offered to buy the building and fund a competition between hotel operators and developers for a new scheme, but Britannia has repeatedly refused the suggestion.
It has also been warned that if it goes ahead with its latest compulsory purchase threat, the action could cost the council between six and nine-million pounds including immediate repairs.
The authority hopes to recoup some of that expenditure by selling on the site to another developer, but believes the risk is worth it because the fire station is an “essential component” of the wider Piccadilly area already earmarked for massive growth.
As city council leader, Sir Richard Leese, said: “London Road Fire Station is a wonderful iconic building with the potential to make a significant contribution to the regeneration of the area, but for more than a quarter of a century, it has been allowed to blight this part of the city centre.
“The building’s current owners have presided over its deterioration and disuse. Despite making public commitments to bring it back into use, they have so far failed to demonstrate any genuine intention to do so. In this case, their inaction speaks louder than words.
“We are,” added Sir Richard, “giving them one last chance — but they need to act quickly to take it.”
Britannia Centres has refused to comment on the long running saga or the council’s latest deadline.
Designed in the Edwardian Baroque style and built at a cost of £142,000 the red brick and terracotta building was the headquarters of the Manchester Fire Brigade until the brigade was replaced by the Greater Manchester Fire Service in the early 1970s.
The building also housed a police station, an ambulance station, a bank, a Coroner’s Court and a gas-meter testing station. It was given Grade II listed status in 1974.
