West Dorset District Council’s former offices at Stratton House in Dorchester have been sold. Independent property adviser GVA represented West Dorset District Council in the sale.
The former offices, collectively known as the Stratton House campus, have been sold to Stratton House Developments (Bournemouth) Ltd, a subsidiary company of Culverdene Properties Ltd.
The Bournemouth-based company purchased the site, which includes properties on High West Street, Glyde Path Road, Colliton Street and Grey School Passage, for £1.526 million.
Dorchester’s historic Shire Hall is not included in the sale and the district council is leading a project to see the building developed into a high quality heritage attraction.
Leader of West Dorset District Council, Robert Gould said:
“I am pleased to announce that the Stratton House campus has now been sold.
“This marks the end of the project to relocate West Dorset District Council to smaller, cheaper and greener offices at South Walks House.
“Although the sale amount is lower than originally expected, the council was not reliant upon the sale of the Stratton House campus to fund the building of South Walks House.
“Money from the sale of Stratton House will now be available to fund other capital projects that we may wish to undertake in the future.
“The new £9.7million offices at South Walks House were completed £1 million under budget and have considerably lower running costs than the collection of buildings at the Stratton House campus.
“The lower running costs of the smaller and greener offices will lead to annual savings which will help the district council protect key services and keep council tax down.”
James Petherick, Principal Surveyor at GVA’s Bristol office comments, “After a proactive marketing campaign which generated high levels of interest, GVA is thrilled to have concluded the sale of the Stratton House campus to Culverdene Properties on behalf of West Dorset District Council. The site has the potential for a mixture of uses going forward and its sale will allow the Council to fund future capital projects in the area.”
West Dorset District Council relocated to South Walks House in December 2012.
The move has helped the council avoid a substantial burden of maintenance costs for Stratton House, as well as helping to reduce the council’s gas consumption by a third and its electricity use by 40 per cent.
The new building has been rated “excellent” by BREEAM, the world’s foremost environmental assessment method for buildings.
The Stratton House campus comprises approximately 50,000 sq ft of office accommodation situated on 1.6 acres. The Stratton House campus is made up of a variety of buildings amongst which is Stratton House, formerly two large houses and part of an impressive façade of buildings. Glyde Path House, The Old School House, 17 and 17a Colliton Street, and a row of attractive former cottages are also included. The majority of the buildings are listed, but have potential for sympathetic extension, subject to planning.
