The Government Property Unit has selected India Buildings in Liverpool as the preferred option for a circa 300,000 sq ft HMRC hub.
HMRC would take the entire building on a 25-year lease.
Quoted rents are £16.50 per sq ft but the tax body would pay a higher rent considering the significant refurbishment needed to be carried out at the Grade-II listed building.
Refurbishment work is due to complete in Q1 2019. India buildings was bought by Shelborn Asset Management on behalf of a South African investor earlier this year for £17m.
From July: 7.4m sq ft of government requirements revealed
From January: Shelborn buys India Building
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “The Government Property Unit is striving to reduce the cost of the Government office estate whilst improving the efficiency of the estate.
“For this reason we regularly receive proposals from the market place which, where relevant, we evaluate.
“As a policy we do not comment on any commercial negotiations as doing so would not serve the best interest of the public.”
Worthington Owen is representing Shelborn; JLL is acting for HMRC.
