Reading council is set to hand over land for a huge town centre regeneration project that will see more than 600 flats built.
The ownership change is necessary to enable the huge Minster Quarter project, which involves the transformation of the area to the rear of Broad Street Mall.
The site was previously home to the Reading Borough Council Civic Centre, which was a 15-storey 1970s brutalist building that was demolished in 2015 and 2016.
Since then, the area has seen little activity, serving as a walkway between Broad Street Mall and Reading Magistrates’ Court.
That is why Reading Borough Council is engaging in a project to regenerate the area through the Minster Quarter project.
This involves the creation of around 600 homes that will be delivered by the council’s development partner McLaren Living, around 40,000 sq ft of commercial space, a 102-bed hotel and an enhanced ‘public square’ for The Hexagon Theatre.
In order for the project to go ahead, the council must hand over the land to McLaren (Minster Quarter) Ltd in a decision by councillors on its policy committee.
A report recommending that McLaren lease the land for the development has been prepared by Charan Dhillon, the council’s director of property and asset management.
Options include approving the disposal to clear the way for the development, or not proceeding, which will stall delivery of the Minster Quarter Central regeneration.
There is no mention of a sale or any cash amounts in a publicly accessible report.
However, there is a separate confidential report which contains sensitive information.
A decision on the disposal is due to be made by the policy committee on Monday, April 13.
The decision is likely to be made during a closed session of the meeting.
The committee agreed on the council’s strategy for the Minster Quarter development at a meeting in January 2024.
At the time, councillor Karen Rowland (Labour, Abbey), who represents the town centre, argued the project would ‘knit back the civic heart of Reading’ by regenerating the area.
Councillors previously clashed over the quality of life of future occupants, with cllr Dave McElroy (Green, Redlands) opining that future residents of the 600 flats would have their “eyeballs and lungs destroyed” by the Inner Distributor Road (IDR).
McLaren was identified as the council’s development partner in February 2024. It is also the residential provider for the Broad Street Mall towers project, which will see 643 flats added to the mall.
The council moved to its current civic offices in Bridge Street in 2014.
The footprint of the old Civic Centre was occupied by the Lavender Place Community Gardens from 2018 to 2023.
