Hot properties set to net city £20m in office sell-off plan

A MASSIVE sell-off of council property across the Capital is being considered in a move that would raise up to £20 million for the city.

Offices in Cockburn Street, the High Street, King's Stables Road and McDonald Road have all been identified as potentially surplus to requirements.

Developers are expected to be keen to snap up the properties which could be turned into flats, shops, bars or restaurants.

City leaders are expected to order a review tomorrow of the council's property holdings with a view to raising money.

Chesser House, a major office block the council leases on Gorgie Road, may also be vacated as part of the shake-up.

The move follows the sale of £45m worth of property by the council to help fund the building of its new headquarters beside Waverley Station.

It is thought selling the offices - and leasing alternative ones - may be cheaper for the council than renovating them to modern standards.

Councillor Brian Fallon, the city's property services leader, said: "We obviously want our staff to be housed in modern office accommodation and also want to secure the best deal for the council. We are not talking about building another headquarters, but we are carrying out a review of all our assets across the city. However, it is in the very early stages."

The city's development director, Andrew Holmes, has recommended the property review as a way of potentially raising money and ensuring "best value" for council taxpayers.

Some of the money raised by any new sell-offs would be used to help rent modern and environmentally-friendly office space in the city centre.

The massive Waverley Gate building - the former General Post Office, which has been lying empty since a major refurbishment more than two years ago - is seen as a prime contender.

Other options are thought to include the former Standard Life offices in Canonmills and those set to be built near the new council HQ as part of the planned Caltongate development.

The review comes just months after 1800 council staff moved into the local authority's new base. The move is said to have provoked complaints from some staff left behind in out-of-date offices.

Roy Durie, director of Edinburgh-based property agents Ryden, said: "There is no doubt the council could raise significant sums of money by putting more of its assets on the open market. With each site you could be talking about generated anything between £3m and £5m."

John Stevenson, chair of the council branch of public sector union Unison, said: "Some of the conditions that staff who have moved in to Waverley Court were in previously were horrendous, but for others there hasn't been that much of a difference.

"People did prefer working in smaller offices and we have had a lot of complaints about the conditions at Waverley Court. We would not want to see people crammed into modern office accommodation or any extension of the hot-desking that goes on at Waverley Court at the moment."

The latest offices which could be sold currently house staff from the council's communities department, children and families department, and licensing officials.

A city source said: "The council has seen the kind of income that can be generated with the way the property market is at the moment and it's obviously very costly to try to refurbish old office buildings.

"If a good solution can be found in the city centre that is not too expensive then there is no doubt it will be seriously considered in the next couple of years."