What is an Urban Regeneration Company?
An Urban Regeneration Company is a special kind of company approved by the Government to help implement the physical regeneration and redevelopment of particular towns and cities. There are only 21 URCs in England, three of which are in the East of England.
What public and private investment is happening or planned?
- £23m investment in refurbishing the Victoria Centre will be completing shortly with a new roof to enclose what was previously a ‘60s open shopping mall.
- Marks & Spencer have completed a £5m refurbishment of their High Street store this year.
- Barratts have recently received planning permission for 98 apartments in the town centre
- Marine Plaza – a major mixed use development on the seafront, is currently seeking a development or JV partner (contact John Pennington at Dedman)
- Olympus KeyMed, specialists is surgical optical instruments have completed a £10m investment in 40,000sqft new advanced manufacturing floorspace in an eco-friendly building
- £20m University of Essex Southend Campus opened in the town centre this year with a faculty in entrepreneurship and business, under Jay Mitra, Founding Professor of Business Enterprise and Innovation.
When will you be likely to be looking for development partners?
Our Masterplan for the town centre identifies a number of key sites and opportunities that RSL and SSBC will be working on over the next year to prepare development briefs and a strategy for bringing forward for development. Please ensure we take details of any developer interest that we can follow up after TGF. Business card and note of any particular interest will be sufficient.
Who will look after the community's interests?
Southend Together, the Southend Local Strategic Partnership, has appointed two directors to the Board of the Company, whilst a local Councillor has also been appointed by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council to represent it on the Board of Directors.
Why do we need a URC?
Local partners have already achieved a number of major successes in taking forward the regeneration of Southend-on-Sea which include:
- The completion of the new £52 million campus of South East Essex College;
- The redevelopment of the Pier Hill area;
- The completion of the new Jubilee Beach;
- Funding to support the development of the University of Essex's Southend Campus;
- Improvements to Southend Pier including the Pier Entrance;
- The reinvigoration of Southend High Street; and
- The commencement of the first phase of the new Travel Centre.
Many of these projects have benefited from Government and European funding resulting from Southend's position within the Thames Gateway.
What powers will the URC have?
Renaissance Southend Limited will not have any additional powers or resources over and above those that the funding partners themselves are willing to commit. The Company will champion, influence, guide and stimulate investment into the Borough. The public sector partners (Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, EEDA and English Partnerships) may, however, use their powers of compulsory purchase orders to support the work of the Company.
Securing major private and public sector investment takes time. However, Renaissance Southend, in its development stage, has already made a major contribution in helping to secure funding from the Government to secure the purchase of a new site for Prospects College; support the renovation and redevelopment of the Palace Hotel by the University of Essex and finance the first phase of works to stabilise the Cliffs Gardens.
