'Best office in Hull' up for sale for £9.2m

Arco Arco's Blackfriargate building. It is a large modern-looking building. The sky is blue.Arco
The Arco offices in Blackfriargate have been put up for sale

The Arco building in Hull city centre has been put up for sale at £9.2m.

Carrick Real Estate said the building in Blackfriargate was "widely regarded as the best office building in the city".

Last week, Arco, which supplies safety equipment and workwear, said it was reviewing the future of the location under proposals to move staff to a single site at Priory Park.

The building, which cost £16m to construct, has five floors and 60,000 sq ft (5,574 sq m) of space.

The brochure stated it occupied a "commanding position overlooking Hull city centre" and was in "immediate proximity" to The Fruit Market and The Deep.

Jasmine Lowe/BBC A woman with blonde hair tied back and a nose ring is looking to the right and wearing a black woolly jumper. Behind her is dark lighting and stools can be seen at a table near a window.Jasmine Lowe/BBC
Anastaija Petrova says a lot of Arco employees are customers at her restaurant on Queen Street

The purpose-built offices opened in 2021 and the company said it was conducting a strategic review with its national distribution centre and other facilities in Henry Boot Way, Priory Park.

Arco said its Blackfriargate head office housed about 300 employees, but added it was "designed for the pre-Covid world" when hybrid work patterns were not in place.

The brochure said the building would go into a nine-month lease at a rent of £777,000 per annum once it is purchased.

Anastasija Petrova, manager at Bert's Pizza and Gelato on Queen Street, said employees at Arco were often customers at her restaurant.

The 21-year-old said: "When we are a bit quieter, so January to March months, a lot of them do come in for lunch.

"So if we're just cutting that out we will definitely lose a fair few customers."

Arco told the BBC it did not want to comment further.

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