Just half of Angus Council’s showpiece Forfar HQ is being used as elected members prepare to decide whether to offload the 17-year-old building.
And officials say the lights and heating have been turned off in parts of the Orchardbank premises to try to slash the £400,000 it costs to run each year.
The rise in home and hybrid working since the Covid-19 pandemic has left Angus House desks empty.
Councillors will be asked on Thursday to agree an 18-month marketing programme for the gateway offices at Orchardbank business park.
It could see some – or all – of Angus House either rented out or sold off.
Estates strategy savings
The council was well down the road of a new estates strategy when Covid struck.
Since 2015 it has made £4m of savings as part of the property review.
And it has brought in £1.3m for the council from the sale of surplus buildings.
Those include the likes of the old Forfar swimming pool.
Others – such as Brechin City Hall – have been taken on by local groups under community asset transfers.
But in a report to a meeting of the full council, infrastructure director Graeme Dailly reveals how much headquarters space is not being used.
“Our adaption to new working arrangements has matured during 2023 to a point where only 2,491 square metres are used in Angus House from a total available floor area of 4,518 sq.m,” he says.
The figure is just 55% of the building.
Staff have been consolidated into three areas of the property. It has allowed heating and lighting to be turned off in the unused offices.
Where else does Angus Council operate from?
The council’s corporate back office services, locality hub and democratic functions now operate from nine properties.
That will reduce by one with the closure of Gowanlea in Arbroath
The eight remaining properties are:
- Bruce House, Arbroath
- Carnoustie Municipal Building
- Kinloch Care Centre, Carnoustie
- Angus House, Forfar
- County Buildings, Forfar
- Municipal Building/Town and County Hall, Forfar
- Former Access Office, Kirriemuir
- Town House, Montrose
HQ moved from Forfar town centre
Angus House opened in 2007 when the council moved out of the St James House offices they bought from town textile firm Don & Low.
But the Orchardbank flit was dogged by controversy.
A secret deal with a developer for the site of what would become Forfar’s Asda supermarket was blocked by opposition councillors.
The authority was eventually forced to put the offices on the open market and got £1 million more than they originally planned to sell them for.
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