By Matt Jarram, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottingham City Council is looking to sell off a piece of prime city centre land where a large empty office block stands empty.
The local authority wants to sell the two-story Waterway House building in Waterway Street, which was built in the 1970s. Its 756 square metres of office space have been empty since 2019.
The building is close to Arkwright Walk and Meadows Lane and the council says selling off the site will support ‘inner city regeneration projects’ in nearby Crocus Street and the Canal Quarter.
Until recently, the on-site car park provided space for the NHS as a Local Testing Site, which is in the process of being decommissioned.
The council said the office building requires extensive investment in terms of repair and modernisation and therefore the only option is to sell.
There will be no obligation for the buyer to convert the office space.
The decision is set to be made at Nottingham City Council’s Executive Board on Tuesday, July 20.
A report to councillors says: “The high cost of investment to make the building commercially viable makes retention uneconomical.”
The council said the sale would also stop crime and anti-social behaviour issues linked to the empty site.
The report adds: “This will be a land sale only and as such there will be no compulsion or obligation on the purchaser to develop or deliver a specific scheme.”
