Council to sell vacant offices to highest bidder

The keys to vacant council-owned offices will soon be handed over to the highest bidder.

Gloucester City Council chiefs are expected to approve the freehold sale of the former Gateway offices at 92-96 Westgate Street in the coming days.

The authority has not yet revealed who the preferred bidder is, but they say they are a "well known local business" which will retain employment in the area.

It added by selling the site the council will make cost savings and generate an income for the upcoming financial year.

The authority, which no longer has a need for the building, marketed the site in the autumn with the deadline for bids closing on 19 February.

The site was advertised on the open market with a guide price in the region of between £600,000 and £700,000 through a sale by private treaty.

They say bids for the property ranged from £585,000 to £610,000, with a combination of uses ranging from solely commercial to mixed use to residential.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the chosen bidder will use a mortgage as opposed to one of the other cash offers.

The council relocated its pre-booked face-to-face appointment area to Eastgate Shopping Centre in July last year.

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