Southway mulls sale of Chorlton Picturehouse
Chorlton Community Land Trust and its development partner Brookfinch are closing in on the acquisition of the Manchester Road site two years after the housing association bought it from Co-op.
While talks between Southway Housing Trust, the CLT, and Brookfinch are ongoing, heads of terms have not yet been agreed.
Garry Finch, director of Brookfinch, said: “We are continuing to work hard on proposals for the site with CCLT and Southway.
“The viability piece is almost done and we would like heads of terms agreed by the end of the summer.”
Meanwhile, Jonathan Turner, assistant director of development at Southway Housing Trust, added: “We understand Chorlton Community Land Trust’s intentions to bring the former Chorlton Picture House back into use for local people and we’re in discussions with them and Manchester City Council to find a mutually agreeable proposal to make this happen.”
News of an impending sale will provide a fillip for those hoping to see the building retained and redeveloped into a food hall and apartments.
Prior to Co-op’s decision to sell the building to Southway, Chorlton CLT had hoped to turn the existing historic building into an Altrincham Market-style eatery with around 32 new-build apartments constructed next door.
At the time, Co-op said the sale to Southway Housing Trust ensured the firm had “achieved its aim of securing a partner who we believe can execute the transaction and deliver on our member and community goals”.
The future of Chorlton Picture House has been up in the air since March 2019 when the Co-op put the building up for sale.
Prior to Southway’s involvement, Churchill Retirement Living was chosen as the preferred bidder for the site – formerly the Picture House and Gaumont cinema but most recently home to Co-op Funeralcare – and proposed demolishing the building and developing apartments for the over-55s.
However, in September 2019 pressure from Chorlton CLT told and the Co-op gave the group the opportunity to put forward its own bid.
Chorlton CLT then set about raising money for the acquisition through its Stayin’ Alive campaign – a nod to the Bee Gees who played their first gig there in the 1950s.
In total, more than 1,200 local supporters contributed £420,000 to the effort. The group also applied to the first round of the government’s Community Ownership Fund requesting £300,000 to support the proposition.
In early 2020, Chorlton CLT was informed its attempt to acquire the site had been rejected in favour of Churchill’s higher offer.
However, weeks later, Co-op U-turned on its earlier decision, opting to provisionally accept Chorlton CLT’s bid and give the group time to draw up detailed proposals for the site before ultimately selling the site to Southway for £2m.
Turn it into a picture house
By Anonymous
This would be a great option given the impending demotion of the precinct – Chorlton needs something different from other suburbs to attract people in. Re-using a decent looking old building is also a bonus
By Clouded Leopard
Bring back this cinema & give us shops were seriously laking shopping now. How .such longer until we hear the sound of building machinery. Get moving now.
By Lo Monroe
The coops greed ultimately cost them in the end
Had they just accepted the 2.2m they’d have banked the money and moved on!
By Dan
We just need to see something happen now. The precinct closed, no planning permission this far. Baths – closed for almost a decade now, an empty building opposite the library. Thankfully work is progressing on the BMR coop site, on Riley’s site, on the old HSBC site, but we’ve 4 major empty sites all needing redevelopment.
This option for mixed use is good news for Chorlton, given the precinct has so few business units in its plans.
By James
Chorlton could really benefit from a Savoy style cinema, but I suspect a food hall is far more likely. Either would be a great fit though.
By Anonymous
Echo James is comments, this is great news but Chorlton centre is being holed out and dead the the moment, we need firm action on things rather than words now (from all not just CLT, who to be fair are the ones making progress!)
By Eddy
This is crying out for commercial activation rather than being sold for solely residential. Heres hoping that CLT can bring the site back into active use for the community given the decline chorlton has seen
By NEM Lad
A food hall wouldn’t work, it’s too quiet
By Anonymous
Chorlton is dead at the moment. How long is it taking for this, the precinct, the baths, the empty building opposite the library and the overarching framework plan… Feels totally mismanaged and running the place into the ground. How did they allow the precinct to close with no plan? Some fancy mock ups but no details…
By Anonymous
Please invite the Picturehouse chain to open one of their cinemas here – alongside social housing.
By Tana Wollen
Terrible place for social housing, social housing should be in areas where private housing wouldn’t sell
By Anonymous
I’ve lived in the area for over twenty years and don’t recall it ever being in use. Chorlton has really lost its appeal, the precinct, library, baths and so on – every project three is going to the wall. So be it.
By anon