Middlesbrough Council boss asks for review of £750k former pub sale

Middlesbrough Council bought the boozer for £750k earlier this year after former mayor Andy Preston was keen to save it from disrepair.

Chief executive Clive Heaphy, who has been in post since March, has asked for a review of the process which will consider how the sale came about and whether it’s an asset or a liability for the town.

The pub is on a list of assets, worth £14.7m, that could be transferred to the Middlesbrough Development Corporation – the new body tasked with turbocharging regeneration in the town centre and Middlehaven. Last month, the pavement outside of the pub was cordoned off until a survey could be carried out to ensure the building was structurally sound. The stretch remains closed.

A council spokesperson has previously refused to confirm whether a structural survey was completed before the building was purchased or whether there was an estimate of the costs to bring the building back into use.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Heaphy, who was not in post when the pub was bought, said: “I have asked for a review and a timeline on that…I am well aware of the issue and some of the concerns around it. So I’ve asked for a review to be done so that it informs my decision-making and the way I advise the council on the next steps forward.

When asked what the review would entail, he added: “The chronology of it, how that sale came about, what factors went into it and how we assessed it. Ultimately, is this an asset or a liability for the town.

“Regardless, it stands there and we want to use it to make it something the town can be proud of. But I need to fact-find first of all before I rush to any judgement on that.”

Politicians voted to buy the former pub in January – eight years after it abruptly closed its doors. At the time, Mr Preston said he wouldn’t stand by and let beloved buildings be demolished and replaced by monstrosities.

Suggested uses for the space, which has also been known as the Elite, ABC Cinema and a bingo hall, include an indoor marketplace, educational spaces, or a cultural performance venue.

A number of proposals for the Crown pub have been spoken about since 2015, however, none have made it off the ground. Once it shut its doors, it was soon sold to Cobro by Stonegate Pub Company.

Three months after the closure, the council passed an Article 4 direction to prevent the building from being demolished. A year later, Fawley Watson Booth chartered surveyors bought the building, on behalf of Capital and Regional. It was then sold again and it is not known who the council bought the building from.