Big development for Worthing’s closed Grafton car park
A search for a developer for a Worthing multi-storey car park which has been closed since May is to be relaunched.
The 440-space Grafton car park was closed on May 16 after inspections found some of the concrete inside the car park was failing because of the structure’s age and seafront location.
Worthing Borough Council, which owns the car park, said a number of companies submitted proposals to redevelop the site after expressions of interest were sought from potential bidders in 2024. These were still being considered when the car park was closed.
On Tuesday, May 8, Adur and Worthing councils’ joint strategic committee, agreed to relaunch the search for a developer, because of the change in the building’s condition since the original bids were made.
A council spokesperson said: “The site includes the 440-space multi-storey car park, Hollywood Bowl bowling alley, the Level 1 food and drink area, a small number of shops in Montague Street and access roads to neighbouring buildings, covering roughly the area of a football pitch.
“The council has also bought the leases to the shops from Clarks to Argos on the southern side of Montague Street to make it easier to develop the whole area.
“The government’s announcement in its summer spending review of £39billion to support the construction of affordable homes across the country is another factor that could affect the design of any redevelopment of the site.”
Original bidders are being invited to submit fresh proposals for the site and a new marketing exercise is due to begin before the end of July. Bids will then be explored and evaluated before a preferred option is selected, with the council hoping to select a developer for the project in spring, 2026.
The spokesperson added: “In the meantime, the council has brought in expert structural engineering firm HOP Consulting to do an analysis of Grafton to determine what could be done to make the car park safe to reopen to the public until the site can be developed.
“Among the considerations will be how much such a project would cost and how long it would take to complete – as well as how much additional disruption would be caused in the area.
“Council officers are continuing to meet with local businesses and residents to discuss what can be done to help them while the car park is closed. They are also looking for ways to provide closer replacement parking spaces for Knightsbridge House residents with accessibility issues.
“Although Grafton is closed to the public, Hollywood Bowl, Level One and nearby shops remain open and safe to visit.”
As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, council officers said at the meeting that a ‘very detailed’ engineering assessment by HOP Consulting on the state of the car park was due in the week commencing Monday, July 21, and this would likely determine whether or not the car park’s issues could be fixed and it reopened.
The LDRS also reported deputy council leader and cabinet member for regeneration Rita Garner as saying the ‘urgent’ closure of the park had been a ‘real blow’ to the council.
“What we’re now doing is looking at it, whatever the HOP report says, at being able to move this strand of work forward so that we’re able to, before local government reorganisation, have a clear plan for this site,” she added. “There’s been close monitoring of parking numbers, the indications are that even when the car park in High Street was closed for five days recently we still had sufficient capacity.
“I think that has given us confidence to alter the emphasis of this site – we don’t need to have parking in the same amount as we thought before”.
The LDRS report added the committee said although a £426,830 in income surplus for the car park’s budget was recorded over 2025/26, commitments to additional safety works, like netting and scaffolding, were about £200,000 so far, with an expected £210,000 fall in revenue for the council over 2026/27 due to the closure.
Details of other car parks in Worthing can be found here.