Sale of former Lisnagelvin Leisure Centre collapses

A decision to sell the former Lisnagelvin Leisure Centre in Derry has been ‘abandoned’ and the site placed on the market again, the Derry News can reveal today.

Discount store, Home Bargains, had been identified as the ‘preferred bidder’ for the site earlier this year.

At the time, council officers recommended that a deal be approved by local representatives.

It’s understood that Derry City & Strabane District Council’s solicitor notified councillors of a concern last week.

The exact nature of the issue is unclear at this stage and the council declined to comment when asked by the Derry News.

A spokesperson did however state that a ‘full report’ will be brought before the next meeting of the Business and Culture Committee which is scheduled to sit again later this month.

In 2017 Derry City & Strabane District Council acquired the freehold of the site.

Last March a value of £600,000 was placed on the site with demolition estimated at £100,000.

Therefore, the site was put out to tender with offers sought in the region of £500,000.

Interested parties had to meet the criteria set out by the council which included details of how it would contribute to the local economy, job creation and sustainability.

When the submission process closed in February 2021, a total of seven tenders were received.

In May, the Derry News reported that Home Bargains had been identified as the ‘preferred bidder’.

Other submissions included a health and well-bring centre, a mixed-use space incorporating social housing, retail and a petrol station, and a care home and retail mixed-use space.

However, the local authority has now confirmed that the current procurement process will be discontinued for the Lisnagelvin Leisure Centre land as the project ‘does not achieve its purposes for the site’.

"The Council has come to the conclusion that the current design of the procurement process does not permit it to achieve its purposes for the site in the most efficient way," a council spokesperson explained.

"Council's intention was, as stated in the Invitation to Tender, 'to maximise the economic potential of the site and to promote job creating opportunities within a satisfactory timeframe'.

“After having carefully examined the tenders it has received, the Council has come to the view that the proposed structure of the land disposal is not the most appropriate.

“It has become clear that the conditions set out in the development brief create significant and unnecessary difficulties in securing finance for the development.

“The Council has therefore come to the conclusion that the current process ought to be abandoned."

The spokesperson went on to confirm that the Lisnagelvin site will now be made available again on the basis of a new process.

"While such process is still to be determined in its details, the Council hopes that a redesigned competition will enable it to offer more attractive terms to potential developers and thus secure a better return to the Council, while also achieving all of its goals concerning the economic potential of the site," she concluded.​