Sale agreed: Leeds City Council moves forward with historic town hall deal
A buyer has been found for a historic town hall building put up for sale by Leeds City Council.
The local authority is in talks to finalise a sale of vacant Pudsey Town Hall after considering offers for the building.
The hall, built around 1890, was put on the market despite a public backlash which saw more than 1,000 people sign a petition last year.
Ward councillors were against the move and Pudsey Town Hall Community Interest Company (CIC) tried to have it listed as a community asset to pause the sale.
The council appointed property firm Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) to seek offers for the building with a February 12 deadline.
Now the four-storey Robin Lane building could be redeveloped into housing after bids were received.
A council report said: “The agent conducted four viewing sessions for multiple interested parties.
“The property received a good response from the market and numerous bids were submitted. LSH were consulted to support and advise the selection of a preferred bidder.”
The name of the preferred bidder and value of the offer have not been disclosed.
The council said the building was costing too much to maintain and selling it would raise much-needed funds.
The report said: “The property is currently incurring expenditure in holding costs whilst it sits empty.
“A sale of the property would alleviate the council of these costs as well as realising a capital receipt.”
The report said the building was declared surplus to requirements last September and had been closed to the public since 2016.
It was only partially being used for storage and events by Pudsey Civic Society.
Lambert Smith Harrison’s sale advert said the building was a “development opportunity suitable for residential use.”