Durham County Council is considering selling its new £50 million headquarters without ever using it.
The council had planned on moving from its current home at County Hall into the newly built facility at The Sands in Durham city centre. However, the local authority is now in talks to sell the new base to Durham University and build a new civic centre at Aykley Heads.
It comes after a Cabinet review into the future use of The Sands building in June last year to consider "whether a business case could be established for an alternative accommodation strategy." The Cabinet will now be asked to agree to the sale of the building to Durham University - which is seeking accommodation for use as a business school in the city - and to agree to the council’s office and civic accommodation to be located at Aykley Heads, along with office accommodation in Stanley.
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The proposed sale of The Sands building to the university would be subject to planning approval, with a decision by the County Planning Committee expected in July.
The council says that the proposals, if agreed, will "provide a number of economic benefits, with the "the costs of the construction and the alternative accommodation strategy being more than offset by the proceeds of the sale of the building." It also said having office accommodation in Stanley town centre will help to further regenerate the town.
Cllr Richard Bell, Cabinet member for finance, said: “The driving factors behind this work are ensuring that we provide good value for money for the authority and that any decisions we make are in the best interests of the county’s residents.
"We believe that the proposal to sell the building at The Sands to Durham University would achieve four aims: coupled with the redevelopment of the DLI Museum and Art Gallery, it would kick-start the wider development of the Aykley Heads strategic employment site; it would secure the university’s new business school in the heart of the city, bringing significant economic and commercial benefits – the university is a globally-ranked Russell Group university and is of considerable importance to the county’s economy and we are pleased to be working in partnership with it.
“Our proposals will bring the former Customer Access Point at Stanley back into use, again bringing economic and commercial benefits; and the sale will give us a surplus which we can invest across the county.
“That’s a good deal in anybody’s money and is further proof of Cabinet’s bold and ambitious vision for the future of our county.”
