Brighton and Hove City Council muse selling Kings House (From The Argus)
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Brighton and Hove City Council muse selling Kings House
11:30am Wednesday 23rd May 2012 in News By Tim Ridgway, Local government reporter
FOR SALE? King's House
A council headquarters could be sold off as part of plans to balance the books.
Kings House has been home to Brighton and Hove City Council since the local authority was created.
The Argus understands bosses are looking at selling the building at the corner of Grand Avenue and Kingsway in Hove to save money in the face of unprecedented Government cuts.
Leading estate agents in the city recently valued the building at tens of millions of pounds.
However, last night council chiefs would not publicly be drawn on the issue, simply saying staff constantly monitored its property portfolio.
A council spokeswoman said: “We have no agreed plans to vacate Kings House.
“But the council constantly reviews its operational portfolio to ensure it is used in the best possible way.
“In terms of office accommodation, we have a programme to reduce the number of office buildings as part of a larger project to modernise the ways we work.
“The first two phases will save us about £800,000 and provide much-needed capital investment.”
The building is the workplace of hundreds of public servants, including the local authority’s senior officers, senior councillors, finance and human resources teams.
A wider review of the local authority offices in recent years has seen the creation of “hot desks” in some offices such as Bartholomew House in Brighton while other rented buildings have been vacated to save money.
Town hall sources said councillors, staff and trade union representatives would have to be consulted on any decision to vacate Kings House. It is believed possible uses could include a mixture of high-value flats and affordable housing.
The news has emerged just days after Jason Kitcat, the council’s former cabinet member for finance, became leader of the local authority.
The building was built as seven Italianate-style mansion blocks in 1872.
It used to be the head office of Seeboard before it was bought by the local authority in the 1990s ahead of the merging of the Brighton and Hove borough councils. In 1974 it became Grade II listed.
Comments(18)
mimseycal
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12:03pm Wed 23 May 12
Nick Brighton
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12:12pm Wed 23 May 12
mimseycal wrote:Good point. Might be best to sell and lease back on a 5-10 year lease, while the Council looks to redeploy staff to other buildings.
They would face difficulties in finding an appropriate buyer for a 10s of millions of pounds Grade II listed building I reckon.
billy goat-gruff
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12:21pm Wed 23 May 12
Hovite
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12:32pm Wed 23 May 12
leobrighton
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12:39pm Wed 23 May 12
Puzzled John
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1:02pm Wed 23 May 12
Stripes
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1:17pm Wed 23 May 12
Maxwell's Ghost
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2:07pm Wed 23 May 12
This is happening all over London and other prime site areas.
It's a bit like the Greens proposing an eco-village when there will be little to prevent homes being bought by investors or just bring another 5 or 10,000 additional people into the city which is already stretched.
Andre Spooner
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2:39pm Wed 23 May 12
Originally I had been eying up the original AMEX building as the location for this glorious structure, or extending the Marina gently towards Rottingdean, but for Kings House to be available at such an opportune moment is a dream come true.
For along with my Mighty Horse, I have a dream. Long we have thought of the day where Horses could gather in the centre of Brighton and Hove in order to perform their graceful dances. If, like myself, you have been lucky enough to be perched behind some bracken at dawn on moorland, as Horses from all directions would converge and perform their dances in the gentle mist of a spring morning! And at the centre, bedecked in the brightest of colours and wearing the Rare and Splendid Hat of Mighty Horse, yes, my own dear Mighty Horse was leading the dance! Tapping on his hooves with a rhythm and choreography mere words cannot describe.
And it has long been our dream to bring this awesome spectacle to the people of Sussex, where, clustered in the Horse Dance Arena, they can briefly attain a mere glimpse of the sublime.
To Kings House we come! A parade of horses, overwhelming council offices, storming reception desks and grazing on great bales of hay that overwhelm the canteen! To Kings House! To the Horse Dance Arena! We advance! Bravo! Horse Dance Arena! Bravo!
Hovite
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4:46pm Wed 23 May 12
menowhere
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6:43pm Wed 23 May 12
Hovite wrote:whats with the long face?
Can someone shoot his horse please!
rolivan
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9:05pm Wed 23 May 12
PorkBoat
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10:12pm Wed 23 May 12
Hovite
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11:09pm Wed 23 May 12
Anyway he hasn't even got a Wonky Donky, let alone a mighty horse!
SpiderMeringue
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8:28am Thu 24 May 12
Andy R
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10:15am Thu 24 May 12
Stripes wrote:No worries. You didn't miss a trick. A few staff get parking permits because of their jobs and suddenly "all council staff are driving to work and parking for free". Check out today's front page for an example of how this particular distortion works.
@leobrighton, really? I worked there for over 6 years and had to pay to park, same as everybody else. What trick was I missing?
hovelawns
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12:38pm Thu 24 May 12
But who is going to monitor where the money goes and what it is used for - no way are the greens going to squander this cash. It belongs to the residents of the city. If anything it should be returned via tax reductions. The books should be balanced by proper accounting and realistic policy setting. Develop the building but do not give the cash to the council to squander.
Hovite says...
11:44am Wed 23 May 12