News
With the announcement of the preferred developer for The Exchange site only weeks away, The New Swindon Company (TNSC) has brokered the purchase of the Swindon Primary Care Trust building on Carfax Street as part of the scheme.
Swindon Borough Council has bought the property with a full grant of £2.3M from the South West RDA demonstrating the continued commitment of the Agency to the regeneration of Swindon town centre.
The sale and lease back agreement allows the PCT to remain in the property until a new purpose built facility has been completed as part of The Exchange development.
Chris Hitchings, Development Director of TNSC has closely managed the acquisition process over the past year, The completion of the PCT purchase almost brings to a close the land assembly for The Exchange site. We are working with the other remaining property owners on the site, including The Salvation Army Housing Association, where we are hoping to complete the acquisition within the next few weeks. With all of this work completed up front, the developer will be able to get to the construction phase of the project much quicker giving the regeneration of the town centre a much needed boost.
Deborah Lee, Director of Primary Care and Commissioning for the PCT is delighted to have achieved the first important milestone in the re-provision of an enhanced health facility for the residents of Swindon. We hope the new facility will represent a flagship for community service provision enabling the PCT and its partners to bring a wider range of services into the heart of the community that would only otherwise have been available in a hospital setting and to ensure we retain high quality general practice in the centre of the town.
Leader of the Council, Roderick Bluh said, I am delighted to see even more progress with the regeneration of the town centre. The purchase of another strategic site will accelerate the exciting changes happening in Swindon and ultimately provide an outstanding community facility.
Thursday 11th January 2007