Tenant sought for historic Turkish Baths in Lewes

There continues to be considerable interest in the building from a broad range of people who would like to lease it.

Some of these interests are purely commercial, including local busineses seeking to establish in the town or expand; and some are more community led.

Lewes District Council, meeting on Monday, is being recommended to approve marketing the 2,000 sq ft single-storey building in a two stage process.

Interested parties will be asked to complete an Expression of Interest form which will then be assessed by officers. The form has been developed to enable a fair assessment of strengths and weaknesses in each bid.

Those shortlisted will then be asked to submit their ‘Best and Final Heads of Terms’. Authorisation of completion of a lease will be based on these.

It will be the council’s responsibility to bring the building up to a lettable standard and to reduce ongoing running costs for future tenants.

The Turkish Baths closed in 1882. The building previously housed the council’s print unit but the service transferred to Eastbourne in 2015 and it has been empty since then.