County Hall up for sale

FOR Sale notices will be posted over County Hall in Ipswich within the next few weeks.

Estate agents will start trying to sell their town centre offices in an attempt to recoup the £20 million cost of their new Endeavour House headquarters.

Commercial agents DTZ, who negotiated the purchase of the former TXU building, have been retained by the council to try to seek a purchaser for its current buildings.

They are expected to be sold separately for different uses – but the council's over-riding aim is to get the best possible price for them.

"We aren't talking about a single county hall building with a single potential use," said a council spokesman.

"There are a number of buildings with different characteristics and different possible futures."

Some buildings are almost certain to be demolished and their site redeveloped.

"St Giles House and one or two other buildings are life-expired, there is nothing to do but pull them down and start again," the spokesman said.

"But other buildings pose different challenges. St Edmund House is the newest building and the nearest to Suffolk College. It may be that they would want to buy that.

"Then St Helen Court, the oldest building, is grade two listed so there are strict limits on what can be done here – it could either be converted into up-market flats, offices, or possible some kind of heritage museum."

Council officers are expected to move into Endeavour house over a three-month period between the end of January and the end of April next year.

Suffolk College board members have looked at the possibility of buying St Edmund House and converting it into an academic library – and that proposal might find favour with the council.

"We are aware of the need to regenerate the area and would want to help that along – but we also need to get the best possible price from the sale of the buildings," said council leader Bryony Rudkin.