Member Article

Camden Council plans desk leasing for tech firms to recoup £44m town hall revamp cost

Leasing out floors and providing desks for tech firms have been mooted by Camden council as ways to recoup the estimated £44.2m cost of its planned major refurbishment work at Camden town hall.

Plans to revamp the Grade II listed building are still in the planning stage, but will require significant work on the 1930s building with the council hoping to start work by next Autumn.

The council claims that refurbishment at the building, which continues to house Camden council’s cabinet politicians and their support staff, will ‘deliver modernised spaces for civic and democratic functions’.

In an effort to recoup costs stemming from the planned work, the council announced back in September that it planned to introduce a new business hub at the building, which would look to attract tech, creative and financial services firms.

Taking advantage of the area’s close proximity to the King’s Cross regeneration zone which is to house Google’s headquarters, the new hub will support 123 empty desk spaces with plans by the council to lease whole floors at the neoclassical building as it looks to claw back some of the eye watering refurbishment costs.

Outlining the plans for the building, Councillor Theo Blackwell, Cabinet Member for Finance, Technology and Growth at Camden Council, said: “These plans will restore this Grade II listed building, modernise democracy and use upper floors formerly used for back-office administration much more productively. Situated in the heart of the ‘Knowledge Quarter’, with the best transport links in the UK, we specifically want it to be an attractive base for tech, creative and life sciences companies to grow.

“This major project will safeguard the future of our historic democratic chambers, create a modern hub for entrepreneurship and make full use of space to deliver an ongoing income stream.”

If approved, the council hopes to have the newly refurbished town hall completed by Christmas 2020.