Wiltshire Council provides City Hall update following recent lease listing

The council secured real estate company Savills to market City Hall on the council's behalf on a long lease. Since June, Savills UK has been supporting the council to identify organisations that are best suited to enter a lease in excess of 25 years. An update was provided at Salisbury Area Board, which took place on 19 September.

It has been confirmed by Savills that there has been interest from multiple parties in taking a long-term lease to operate the building. To ensure complete due diligence, an article was published in an arts publication which provided one more opportunity to promote the long-lease proposal to the whole of the market. At the end of September, Savills will ask interested parties to confirm views on the lease and scheduling. Savills will then make recommendations to the council based on the outcomes.

Confirmation of the interested parties cannot be released due to the commercial nature of the situation. 

A stipulation for prospective operators is that the venue remains as an entertainment venue. Should appropriate operators be appointed after this process they would be responsible for the running of the venue, but the council would retain overall ownership.

Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of the council, said: We're pleased that there has been interest in City Hall as given its heritage and location in the centre of Wiltshire's only city it offers so much potential for a successful future. We see a successful re-opened City Hall complementing the wider cultural offer of Salisbury and all the other investment currently taking place in the city.

We want Salisbury City Hall to be sustainable for the long-term at no extra cost to the Wiltshire Council taxpayer and that's why this due diligence is so essential - we want to get this right.

Due to the commercial nature of the conversations, and with the marketing still ongoing for a short time longer, we can't share any further specific details at this stage, but we will keep everyone updated as soon as we're able to.

As part of the process, the council has invited any potential interested tenants to submit social value plans. When appropriate the council will have separate discussions relating to the added social value that can be delivered through City Hall and how the venue can contribute to the aims and objectives set out in the council's new Cultural Strategy for Wiltshire., which was formally adopted in July.

Salisbury Area Board and other stakeholders will be updated and made aware of any major milestones, including if a deal is reached with a provider.

Information on City Hall can be found at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/salisbury-city-hall.