Office to rent

The long leasehold of the Old Town Hall in Stroud Town Centre is being marketed on a 2 stage basis. Firstly, we are seeking ‘Expressions of Interest’ from community groups. Thereafter the property will be offered on the open market.

The property is a Grade II* Listed two storey office building, formerly Stroud’s Old Town Hall, originally dating from 1596 with later extensions of stonework construction, pitched tiled roof, with a section of flat felt, roofs and single glazed metal, timber and stone framed windows.

The accommodation is divided to provide on the ground floor four archway storerooms, each opening directly onto The Shambles, together with two entrances, one with stairs leading up to the first floor and a second that together with stairs also has a small reception hall off which are three offices, a boiler room WC and disabled WC together with a five-person (630 kg) passenger lift to the first floor.

The accommodation at first floor level comprises a main landing connected to the stairs and lift with corridor off which are five further offices and a WC. The landing also leads to the main meeting hall with kitchen and second staircase.

In general, the offices have carpet or timber flooring, emulsion painted or wallpapered walls and ceilings with fluorescent or LED lighting, wall mounted electric and telephone points. There are also wall mounted radiators served by gas fired central heating boilers. The meeting hall has timber flooring with exposed timber trusses and full height ceiling with feature lighting. The kitchen has fitted united including a stainless-steel single drainer sink unit.

EPCs

Old Town Hall – C73 (valid until 31 March 2029)
Offices 7-8 – G163 (expired 5 January 2019)
Office 9 – D93 (expired 22 June 2021)

Underletting Conditions

Meeting Hall - The purchaser will need to make the first floor Meeting Hall available for a limited number of public bookings per annum. The minimum number of bookings will be set out when the property is placed on the Open Market.

Ground floor stores - The ground floor stores will be subject to tenancy agreements. Further information will be made available at the time of marketing.

All income generated from under-lettings will be retained by the purchaser.

Further information is available from the agents upon request.

The Marketing Process

Our client, Stroud District Council (SDC) who owns this freehold property has instructed ASH Chartered Surveyors to undertake the following marketing of the long leasehold interest:

Stage 1 - Initial Marketing to Community Groups
Prior to marketing the long leasehold opportunity on the Open Market, our client is firstly seeking 'Expressions of Interest' (EOI) from community groups.

During a 6-week period between 8 November - 20 December 2023 this is an opportunity for community groups to record their interest by submitting an 'Expression of Interest' proforma to: [use Contact Agent Button]
Please note that EOI forms are available from ASH Chartered Surveyors.

Stage 2 - Marketing to the Open Market
At the end of the above 6-week 'Stage 1' period (and also allowing for the following Christmas 2023 break), if EOI's are received then the long leasehold opportunity will be placed on the Open Market for a period of 6 months with the aim of inviting bids from both community groups and commercial organisations.

Stage 3. Timescale for bidding
Interested parties are are requested to submit their financial offer (quantitative part of bid) and set out their proposals with regard to refurbishing the property, improving its energy efficiency as well as its social, environmental and economic factors (qualitative part of bid). This latter part will capture the future community benefit and energy efficiency of the building. Both quantitative and qualitative parts will be included in the assessment of offers and will be scored in accordance with Stage 4 below.

If EOI's are submitted, then the marketing period will be kept open for 6 months and bids and applicant's qualitative factors will need to be sent to ASH Chartered Surveyors by 5pm 15 July 2024.
If there are no EOI forms submitted, then ASH Chartered Surveyors will advise all interested parties when to bid.

Stage 4 - Evaluation and Selection
All offers that are received will be evaluated and assessed based on the following scoring method: 40% towards purchase price (i.e. quantitative) and 60% towards qualitative factors. Once the scoring is complete a selection will be made, and the preferred bidder will be notified.

The evaluation criteria and weighting for each element will be made clear when the property is placed on the Open Market.

​Stroud is a busy Cotswold market town with a population of approximately 32,670 and the district, 121,100 (Census 2021). The town lies on the A46 Cheltenham to Bath Road approximately 10 miles south of Gloucester, 12 miles west of Cirencester and 30 miles north of Bristol. Road communications to the national motorway network are provided at Junction 13 of the M5 approximately 4 miles to the west of the town, and to the M4 via either the A46 or via Cirencester and the A419 road to Swindon.

The mainline railway station is located within ¼ mile southwest from the town centre with journeys to London Paddington taking approximately 1½ hours.

The property is situated fronting the eastern side of The Shambles, which is a street located in the centre of Stroud town centre, just off the pedestrianised High Street. Two major retailers, Greggs and Costa are located on either corner of The Shambles at its intersection with the High Street. Other nearby retail occupiers include Boots, Vodafone, Savers, Sue Ryder, Johnsons Drycleaners and Halifax Building Society, together with many small independent local retailers. The Subscription Rooms, a well-known public entertainment venue is situated within a ¼ mile south on George Street. At the far end of The Shambles is St Laurence Church. At the rear of the property is the Church Street car park ‘pay & display’.