Talks open with landlords as council looks to £43m move

TALKS are under way between York City Council’s senior officials and property landlords as the authority looks to terminate leases, to save millions of pounds in rents with a long-awaited move to a new headquarters.

The city council is drawing up a strategy to move into its new centralised base, due to be created at West Offices, which were built in the 1840s as York’s original railway station and station hotel.

Senior councillors on the authority’s executive will be given an update on Tuesday next week about the proposed move, expected at the end of 2012.

The relocation is aimed at slashing the council’s accommodation costs by reducing the number of its existing premises from 16 to four, and bringing about savings of about 17m during the next 25 years. Having offices scattered throughout the city has sapped finances as half of its premises are leased and rents swallow up 1m a year.

The new headquarters will include a customer centre as well as business and staff facilities, and the overall project is expected to cost 43.8m.

Discussions are already taking place with landlords about vacating offices and the termination of the leases to a minimum so costs are kept down, as well as minimising any disruption and risk to council services.

The company behind the project, York Investors LLP, is also planning to build a 120-bed hotel costing 10m on a section of the site which would bring 50 jobs to the city.

The council itself granted planning permission in June, almost two years after initial blueprints earmarked for the Hungate development were abandoned following concerns from English Heritage.