A half-share of Whitefriars coveted by the city council has a price tag of at least £90 million, KentOnline understands.

Members of the full council unanimously agreed to push forward with plans to purchase a 50% stake in the shopping centre, with a view to finalising the deal before the summer break.

The decision was made on Thursday at the city’s Guildhall.

Afterwards, council leader Simon Cook said: “It is good that the proposal has the backing of all councillors and was approved unanimously. Everything is now in the lap of our property guys.”

City council chief executive Colin Carmichael told the meeting that the deal made commercial sense and allowed the authority to influence the future of Whitefriars.

He said the council’s role would be one of a sleeping partner, with the site managed on a day-to-day basis by property firm Henderson.

“Whitefriars is the strongest part of the retail area of the city and this purchase will allow us to have an influence over the future of the city centre,” he said.

“There’s also a financial benefit and we expect to make a return year-on-year.”

Lib Dem Michael Dixey, whose Westgate ward covers the city centre, described Canterbury as a “major retail centre”, and said the council would benefit from the Whitefriars purchase.

“I’ve been to Hereford and Glasgow recently and they compare very unfavourably to Canterbury,” Cllr Dixey said.

“Canterbury is almost a different world. This deal is very commercially attractive.”
Conservative Cllr Steve Williams added: “This is a good time to be borrowing the money for a deal like this.

“In terms of retail, Canterbury has bucked the trend nationally and we will be acquiring control over a prime piece of real estate.”

The city council will make the purchase using money borrowed at a low rate. It expects the rental income will cover the loan repayments and leave a surplus.

Whitefriars – which houses shops such as Fenwicks, Next and Tesco – was built on council land in 2005 and leased to Land Securities for 250 years.

The firm later sold the lease – half to TH Real Estate and the other half to the Canadian Pension Fund (CPF).

Canterbury City Council is intending to buy the part owned by CPF.