A rather interesting building has gone on the market in Poole, Dorset with sealed bids invited by potential purchasers. The former main police station in Poole, located on the Sandbanks Rd. is expected to fetch around £1.5million and from an insurance point of view would fall into the category of non standard construction insurance as it has a flat roof in its entirety, something which the guys here at Comparecrazy specialise in.
The 0.89 acre (or 3,600sqm) site, next to Poole’s civic centre has been derelict since 2009 when the police station moved nearby to a state of the art joint emergency services building nearby. Apparently, the number of underused or empty police buildings within the Dorset Constabulary’s area costs the taxpayer around £2.1million per annum which has to beg the question as to why it has taken them nearly five years to put it on the market. The police are always banging on about a lack of officers on the ground and this figure apparently would provide for a good sixty officers, but politics and poor use of the taxpayer’s money is something we really shouldn’t go into here!
The building is subject to a covenant restricting its use to either a police station or offices, although a change of use application to the council could see the building transformed into around fifteen flats according to Savills, who are instructed to sell the building. According to the estate agent, there has been a lot of interest from both commercial and residential developers, although no-one as yet has wanted to turn it into a ‘lock up’!
Just the address itself, Sandbanks Rd. gives the property some exclusivity and is a ‘celling’ point (sorry!) Sandbanks, just outside Poole is one of the most expensive places to live on the planet, way up there with Manhattan, Kensington & West Chelsea, Tokyo and Walsall.
So if any potential purchasers are reading this, or indeed anyone with a flat roof building, don’t forget to drop by Comparecrazy.com for your non standard construction insurance. Comparecrazy.com. The business insurance comparison site!
