The BBC wants to sell its massive Welsh broadcasting complex in Cardiff and relocate to the citys fast-growing bay area.
BBC Waless 15,793 sq m (170,000 sq ft) HQ is seen as a valuable development opportunity, and sources said that the BBC would be keen to realise that value quickly.
A BBC Wales spokeswoman confirmed that a feasibility study included a suggestion that the corporation move to the bay.
BBC financial chiefs are believed to want to move to the bay because of its proximity to the Welsh Assembly headquarters and the £80m Millennium opera and arts centre now under construction. The existing BBC complex also sits on 4ha (10 acres) of valuable land in the upmarket suburbs of Llandaff. Experts said that it would be in huge demand from housebuilders.
Grosvenor Waterside, Associated British Ports property subsidiary, is the largest landowner in the bay and is believed to be in negotiations with the BBC.
The BBC spokeswoman added: “BBC Wales has been undergoing a major reorganisation, and until that is complete, we shall not be aware of the impact of all the changes and the future needs of all departments. Until then the proposal is, and remains, just one element of a feasibility study.”
BBC Wales controller Menna Richards is known to be a big fan of the bay redevelopment. In her previous role as managing director of HTV Wales in Cardiff, she put forward a proposal to close the independent broadcasters sprawling studio complex in the citys Culverhouse Cross area and move HTV to the dockside.
EGi News 22/09/01
