Agenda item

This report details the bids that have been received by organisations interested in being selected as the development partner for the Discus Re-development Project and seeks approval for a preferred development partner to purchase the sites and work with the residents, the Project Board, the Council and the wider community to re-develop the three Discus sites at St Anne’s Court / Horsman Avenue, Regent Street and Richmond / Faber Street.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the contents of the report, and the progress of the Discus re-development project to date, through the work of the Project Board that has agreed the selection process, be noted.

REASON:      In accordance with the requirement to keep Members informed on the progress of major projects.

                        (ii)        That Option 1 be approved; that is, to select the partnership of Tees Valley Housing Group, York Housing Association and Southdale Homes Ltd. as the provisional preferred development partner to purchase and develop the three Discus sites, subject to the receipt of satisfactory planning consent, ground investigation surveys, the award of a Social Housing Grant and resolution of issues brought up as part of the evaluation, providing this does not affect the capital receipt to a point where it will affect the order of the evaluation scores.

REASON:      This developer scored the highest marks in the selection process.

(iii) That authority be delegated to the Director of Housing and Adult Social Services, in consultation with the Project Board, to agree a Heads of Terms and Conditional Development Agreement with the preferred development partner, to include the Discus Housing Objectives, subject to the Project Board’s confirmation of the agreements and prior consultation with the Executive Member, the Corporate Landlord and the Chief Finance Officer, in the event that the agreement may result in any reduction of the capital receipt.

REASON:      To secure an agreement with the Discus development partner that achieves all the outcomes agreed through consultation with stakeholders and interested parties.

Members considered a report which detailed the tenders received from organisations interested in being selected as the Council’s preferred development partner for the Discus Re-development Project.

A total of eleven tender submissions had been received, and evaluated in accordance with the selection criteria agreed by the Discus Project Board at their meeting on 11 June 2007.  The Board had then met on 25 September to discuss the four highest scoring bids and had agreed to invite the following three tenders to the presentation stage of the evaluation:

• Tees Valley Group / York Housing Association / Southdale Homes
• Hanover Housing Association / Accent Group / Keepmoat PLC
• Miller / Yorkshire Housing

At the presentation stage, these bids had been evaluated against an additional six criteria.  Details of the resulting scores were set out in Exempt Annex 1 to the report.  On the basis of these scores, the Board had selected Tees Valley / York Housing Assocation / Southdale Homes as their recommended preferred partner.

The report outlined the following options for Members’ consideration:

Option 1 – Accept the Project Board’s recommendation and sell the land to Tees Valley / York Housing Assocation / Southdale Homes, subject to certain conditions being satisfied.  This was the recommended option.

Option 2 – Reject the Board’s recommendations and approve one of the other tenders.  This would affect the capital receipt of the land sale and the type of re-housing provided.

Option 3 – Reject all the tenders and begin a new procurement process.  This would result in the development being delayed pending the re-tendering process and could lead to loss of Housing Corporation funding.

In commending the recommendations to Members, the Executive Member for Housing Services thanked all the Officers, residents and Project Board members involved for their hard work in reaching this stage of the project.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the contents of the report, and the progress of the Discus re-development project to date, through the work of the Project Board that has agreed the selection process, be noted.

REASON:      In accordance with the requirement to keep Members informed on the progress of major projects.

                        (ii)        That Option 1 be approved; that is, to select the partnership of Tees Valley Housing Group, York Housing Association and Southdale Homes Ltd. as the provisional preferred development partner to purchase and develop the three Discus sites, subject to the receipt of satisfactory planning consent, ground investigation surveys, the award of a Social Housing Grant and resolution of issues brought up as part of the evaluation, providing this does not affect the capital receipt to a point where it will affect the order of the evaluation scores.

REASON:      This developer scored the highest marks in the selection process.

(iii) That authority be delegated to the Director of Housing and Adult Social Services, in consultation with the Project Board, to agree a Heads of Terms and Conditional Development Agreement with the preferred development partner, to include the Discus Housing Objectives, subject to the Project Board’s confirmation of the agreements and prior consultation with the Executive Member, the Corporate Landlord and the Chief Finance Officer, in the event that the agreement may result in any reduction of the capital receipt.

REASON:      To secure an agreement with the Discus development partner that achieves all the outcomes agreed through consultation with stakeholders and interested parties.