Swap deal prepared for empty former office block

Councillors have agreed to swap a former Northampton office block for land that could be used for housing.

Albion House, in Victoria Promenade, will be exchanged for space on East Island - an area near the former Greyfriars bus station which is being regenerated.

A meeting of West Northamptonshire Council's cabinet heard Zone Developments, which has been developing East Island, would take on the four-storey building.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted Zone Developments to ask what it would do with Albion House, but did not receive a response.

However, a report prepared for the meeting suggested it would most likely be demolished.

Albion House was purchased for £500,000 by the now defunct Northampton Borough Council in 2015.

While a deal for the transfer has not yet been struck, the council was given permission to pursue one at the meeting on Thursday.

Labour councillor Keith Holland-Delamere questioned if the Reform UK-led council was sure the sale "will not come back to bite us", but was told other ideas had proved unviable.

During the meeting, councillors also agreed to sell a half-acre (0.2ha) plot of Ladybridge Park for at least £1.5m.

The buyer, Bellway Homes, plans to use it for a new access road for its nearby 224-home development.

However the sale is subject to planning permission being granted.

John Slope, cabinet member for finance, said: "The development as a whole will create substantially more open public space than is lost."

He argued that refusing the transfer risked the developer pursuing other routes to acquire the land, resulting in the council being paid a fraction of its value.

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