Plans to market an additional block in the building for let as office space were called in by seven of the borough’s Labour councillors.
Churchill Court sits on Westmoreland Road in Bromley town centre, with the council scheduled to move into the space on a phased basis before the end of the year. The authority purchased the building, consisting of four separate blocks, in July 2024.
However, Labour councillors have claimed the estimated financial yield for letting out one of the blocks had been done without including the price paid for the asset, with costs for the project being substantially higher than previously reported.
The topic was discussed at a scrutiny meeting for Bromley Council on October 10.
A council officer said the authority would invest funds in marketing the block to determine the potential capital that could be obtained from its rental.
However, they admitted it was unknown how much it would be necessary to spend to attract the best deal.
The authority’s executive committee agreed last month to allow for up to £150,000 to be spent on marketing the block.
The officer said at the meeting: “The aim of this was so that we try and minimise the time the building is empty and minimise the time that we have dual running costs because obviously while the building is empty, we have business rates and elements like that to pay for it.”
Opposition councillors had claimed ‘poor metrics’ were used to calculate the financial viability of letting out the block. Labour Councillor Jeremy Adams said the call-in was not made to oppose the council’s decision.
He said councillors would like to have seen more accurate projections on potential revenues based on the building’s occupancy.
He said at the meeting: “It was more to convince us that the business case is strong. Make us feel that this is absolutely the right way to go.”
The council officer responded by saying it was unknown what rental values the council would achieve through the block. They added that the council would seek the minimum number of tenants possible to occupy the space in order to reduce potential costs in compartmentalising the block.
The officer said staff were keen for the scheme to move forward following soft market testing that had been carried out by the authority. Conservative Councillor Simon Fawthrop said he did not feel any progression would be made by taking the concerns raised any further and it was agreed not to take additional action.
