City College Brighton and Hove is going back to the drawing board with plans to redevelop its Pelham Street campus.
Chief executive Nick Juba shared news of the rethink with members of the Greater Brighton Economic Board at a meeting this week. He was pitching for financial support.
The further education college had planned a £70 million makeover which included new classrooms, 442 student flats and 125 homes.
The scheme was granted planning permission in December 2013 but has now been formally shelved by the college’s governing body in favour of a cheaper plan.
The new proposals are at an early stage with a more modest price tag of about £36 million. They focus on a refurbishment of the existing Pelham Tower and a new building on the north side of the car park.
The buildings on the east side of Pelham Street are likely to be sold, possibly for housing or, more probably, for a new secondary school.
Brighton University and Brighton and Hove City Council are looking at the site along with another potential site in the grounds of Brighton General Hospital.
Mr Juba, who joined City College last September, said that it had an annual income of about £20 million and that a more affordable scheme would be more appropriate.
He acknowledged that the college had had financial problems, with a £9 million deficit two years ago and late accounts.
The most recent annual accounts were filed on time and recorded a £1 million deficit. The college was no longer being so closely supervised by its regulators.
He said that he hoped the accounts for the current financial year, which ends in July, would show a small surplus.
City College’s improving circumstances are in contrast to the fortunes of Central Sussex College which intends to close sites and is financially struggling.
The news emerged as a government review takes place of further education and sixth form colleges across most of Sussex.
City College has proposed a merger with Northbrook, in Worthing, to create the Greater Brighton and Sussex Institute of Arts and Technology.
The building plans depend on a number of factors, the college said, including an application to the government’s Local Growth Fund for match funding for the project.
City College said: “The Pelham Campus will play a central role in the college’s plans to create a new Institute of Arts and Technology providing high-quality technical and applied routes into employment and higher education across the Greater Brighton region.
“At the heart of the scheme is a complete refurbishment of the existing Pelham Tower alongside a 2,500m2 new build on the north side of the car park.
“The new build component of the scheme will house a Centre for the Creative Industries to train the next generation of talent for the city’s burgeoning creative, digital and IT sector.”
Mr Juba said: “The proposals for the redevelopment of the Pelham Campus represent our early thinking around what could be achieved on the site.
“As with every school, college and university, we need some public funds to match our own contribution to making the scheme work.
“At this very early stage, the scheme simply sets out in broad brushstrokes what could be achieved on the site.
“If we are successful with our bid for Local Growth Funding we will start to develop our plans in more detail.
“At that point we will be working with everyone in the local community – including our staff and students – to think through how the site can best deliver for our students and apprentices.”
Work is currently under way on a new £9 million construction trades training centre at City College’s East Campus in Wilson Avenue, Whitehawk.
