bitternepark.info has learned that Ei Publican Partnerships, the pubco that owns The Bitterne Park Hotel, is in the process of selling the pub – which was previously listed with the council as a community asset.
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We understand that the transaction is likely to complete soon.
While the vacant freehold is at the time of writing still listed on Savills’ national auction site (labelled “sold prior"), we understand that Ei went with another offer before it went to auction.
A spokesperson from Ei Publican Partnerships told bitternepark.info: “As part of our on-going business, we do from time to time identify a site that may no longer have a long-term future in our estate. After careful consideration, the decision has been made to sell the freehold of the Bitterne Park Hotel, with the transaction expected to complete soon.”
As reported, Southampton City Council added the Bitterne Park Hotel to its List of Assets of Community Value (AVC) in 2014, which would have given the community the possibility of bidding on, and buying the property should the owner have decided to sell while the ACV was current, but it's understood it expired in May.
Conroy Williams, who originally nominated the pub as an ACV, said he hoped that whoever buys or runs it does something good with it which will benefit the wider community. But he added that he suspected "it'll have a change of use to residential".
It’s described on Savills’ site as a “large imposing traditional public house with development potential situated on a site approximately 0.367 acres, located in the Bitterne Triangle (sic) area of Southampton.”