Roffey Homes has been selected to work with Worthing Borough Council to redevelop the derelict Union Place site.
The former police station site in Union Place has been derelict for many years. In 2017 and 2018 the Council bought that site and the adjacent NCP car park for almost £9.7 million to push forward the redevelopment of the area. Since then it has been working with Government-owned regeneration specialist LCR Property to develop the site.
Under plans agreed by Adur & Worthing Councils' Joint Strategic Committee, Roffey Homes will work with Worthing Borough Council to develop that site, the NCP car park and the High Street short-stay car park. They hope to create 63 one-bedroom and 123 two-bedroom homes, at least 37 of which would be classed as affordable and would be offered to people on Worthing's housing register.
A new ground floor car park with more than 250 spaces would be created as well as commercial units and a potential cinema extension for the Connaught Theatre. The Council would retain the freehold for the site and would split the costs and profits with Roffey Homes.
The committee was told that research showed that there was a potential demand for between three and five extra cinema screens in the town.
An estimated 100,000 trips a year are made by Worthing residents to Chichester, Brighton and other towns for cinema visits - spending £3.5 million in those areas annually that could otherwise be spent in Worthing.
Worthing Borough Council's Executive Member for Regeneration, Cllr Nicky Waight, said:
“These are proposals that will breathe new life into the area. Residents of Worthing want this site developed to improve the area and provide new housing
“The selection of Roffey Homes means we can now move forward with these ambitious plans to transform this section of the town.”
A planning application for the scheme could be submitted this Autumn. If approved, work could begin as early as Spring 2023.
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