City council customer service office to close for move...

[dutchman]

The department will be available on August 27



A Coventry City Council customer service centre is set to close for a week as it relocates offices.

The centre, which deals with council tax and housing benefits enquiries, as well as highways, waste services and pest control queries, will close at Broadgate House on Thursday.

It will reopen at the Central Library on 27 August. The library, on Smithford Way, will also shut for a day on Tuesday to facilitate the move.

It follows a decision by the council earlier this month to sell off the grade II listed Broadgate House.

Councillor Richard Brown called the new location "an ideal central venue" for the wider community.

He added: "The move will bring all customer services alongside the wide range of library services and we hope it will make it even easier for residents to access council services and library facilities in one convenient location."

During the closure, residents will still be able to access council services via its website and on the phone.

Earlier in August the council's head of development, disposal and acquisitions was given permission to market Broadgate House, which houses the iconic Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom clock.

Speaking at a cabinet member meeting, Paul Beesley said: "Our intention is to go out to the market to seek contractors, developers and investors to bring proposals forward including the provision of private and affordable housing but specifically excluding any student housing.

"Until we go out to market and clearly understand who is out there and what proposals are available we can't guarantee what will come back but our anticipation is that there will be developers out there who would look at refurbishing the upper floors for an alternative use. It is something we have done already elsewhere in the city."

[dutchman]

Bids invited for historic Broadgate House in Coventry city centre



Developers are being invited to put forward plans for the upper floors of Broadgate House in Coventry city centre. Council staff had been working there until last year when they were moved to alternative premises so the offices could be converted.

The city council is ready to grant a 250-year lease to the successful bidder. This will cover the entire building including an area previously let to The Escape Room although the ground floor retail units will need to be sub-let back to the council so that it can retain the commercial rents.

A document on the council’s website offers guidance for those interested in tendering for the Grade II listed building at the entrance to Hertford Street. It states: “Any proposed development should include the conversion of the upper floors to alternative uses – excluding student accommodation.

“The council will retain rights to install, replace, maintain and operate roof and externally mounted apparatus, together with associated internal service media and any related equipment. These rights will enable the council to continue using its street lighting, CCTV and radio masts, together with preserving its ability to install such new items in the future.”

An agreement will be conditional upon gaining both satisfactory planning consent and listed building consent.

Back in the summer, the council’s head of development, disposal and acquisitions, Paul Beesley, was given permission to market Broadgate House, which houses the iconic Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom clock. He explained that the plan was to seek contractors, developers and investors able to bring proposals forward including the provision of private and affordable housing but specifically excluding any student housing.

He said: “Until we go out to market and clearly understand who is out there and what proposals are available we can’t guarantee what will come back but our anticipation is that there will be developers out there who would look at refurbishing the upper floors for an alternative use. It is something we have done already elsewhere in the city.”

The building was built as part of the initial post-war regeneration of the city centre. It opened in 1953 and includes a number of works of public art including Trevor Tennant’s People of Coventry sculpture as well as the clock.

Bids must be lodged with the council by 2pm on February 2. They will need to include the price being offered for the new lease, the nature and scale of the proposed scheme and the anticipated timescale.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/bids-invited-historic-broadgate-house-33214199