A Derbyshire council is proceeding with plans to move out of its headquarters, convert it into a hotel and build new offices and homes in its grounds.
Derbyshire County Council is looking to appoint a “master developer” to lead the £130 million Matlock County Hall project, in which it would move out of its current ageing and historic headquarters.
This master developer would work in partnership with the authority, and the appointed organisation and those it hires would bear the brunt of the costs.
A replacement exo-friendly office block would be built in the grounds through the current masterplans and the council would lease this off the appointed builder, a new report details.
The county council says it has retained the interest of master developers Igloo and Queensberry.
Meanwhile, it says it has received continued interest from Radisson Hotels, Vine Hotels and Lock Terrace for the hotel part of the redevelopment, along with interest from “one of the UK’s largest events management and hospitality businesses”.
Local and regional housebuilders have also registered their interest, the council says.
A decision on the appointed master developer is set to be made by January 2026.
Council papers released last year said the new HQ could be ready by 2027 but advice had been given to open it at the same time as the hotel, which had an estimated completion date of 2029.
This is said to have shifted to 2030 but the council report does not mention this shift.
The authority has set aside £4.24 million to spend on consultants to push the project forward, including procurement of a master developer, with the first series of planning applications to be filed to Derbyshire Dales District Council later this month.
This first flurry of applications would be the change of use of the South Block of County Hall back into a hotel; an outline application for the council’s new HQ and to build homes in the grounds; and listed building consent for works to the South Block, Winter Gardens and other areas of the wider estate.
The planned hotel conversion is expected to create 130 full-time jobs, boost the Derbyshire economy by £147 million and the Matlock economy by £56 million, along with £1.2 million a year in extra council tax.
Reports published by the authority last year detailed the potential cost of each scheme, with the new eco-friendly council office for 500 employees potentially costing £34 million, the hotel conversion costing £72 million and the creation of homes in a block on the site costing £26 million – a total of £132 million.
These costs are said to have reduced since last year after being reassessed with stronger confidence on what had been forecast as worst case scenarios, but details of these new prices have not been provided in public documents.
Developers and private companies would be funding the schemes, but the council had budgeted last year to spend £20 million over three years on the overall project.
The council had said the cost of maintenance (£57 million), a repairs backlog (£56 million) and the price of decarbonising County Hall (£59 million) totalled £172 million.
All of this is under way as the council is out to consultation on its own demise through local government reorganisation, which would see it scrapped and merged with other authorities.
The county council has so far pushed for an authority on the same footprint but to absorb all of the eight districts and boroughs, and leave Derby separate.
District and borough councils and the city council disagree with this plan and have voiced support for either two or three councils for the entire county and city – with no council geographical areas being carved up and split into the new councils.
Any reorganisation would see the consideration of which council offices to retain and where they should be situated.
South Derbyshire District Council last week approved a project to build a new HQ at a cost of £59 million to be open by Spring 2028 and Erewash Borough Council, which has two headquarters in Ilkeston and Long Eaton, has been investigating which one to keep.
The county council said: “The council’s continued occupation of the County Hall complex is not affordable and fails to unlock and maximise the potential of the asset to deliver significant economic and social benefits for the people of Matlock and Derbyshire.”
Cllr Simon Spencer, the council’s deputy leader, said: “We have a unique opportunity to restore this beautiful local landmark and return it to its original purpose as a hotel, and by doing so, support our community by growing the local economy, delivering new homes and generating jobs.
“The next stage in this important project is that we seek a master developer, who can share our vision and make it a reality.
“This project will bring significant investment into Matlock and reduce operating costs for the council. We are being supported by specialists, experts in their respective fields and in delivering this sort of project.”
