York’s iconic Bonding Warehouse goes on the market

THE newly renovated Bonding Warehouse in York has been put up for sale as an investment opportunity.

Bought by York-based developer Grantside in 2012, the landmark riverside grade II listed building, off Skeldergate, has been converted into a mixed-use scheme of 11,000 sq ft of office space and four luxury penthouse apartments on the upper two floors. It has an asking price of £2.4m.
 
Office space in the development was fully let earlier this year after Grantside relocated its own head office from Holgate Park to the development in July, taking 2,000 sq ft on the ground floor. Global software developer Anaplan has taken the remaining 9,000 sq ft of space, opening new offices in the Bonding Warehouse in August as part of an ambitious expansion programme that will create 50 new jobs in the city. The four deluxe riverside flats were met with huge interest when they were unveiled in March this year. All of the apartments have been sold or are under offer, the largest, fetching £1m when it was sold off plan in May, a record sale price for a York apartment.
 
Grantside managing director Steve Davis said: “We have been on an amazing journey since we secured the Bonding Warehouse site in 2012. The building had been in a sorry state of dereliction and vandalisim since 2000. Being able to restore this iconic building, which is so much a part of the history of the city, has been a privilege. With a great deal of painstaking restoration work and the installation of specialist, state of the art flood defences, we have brought it back to life, sensitively blending the historic with the best of high-tech – we’re extremely proud of the result.”
 
The Bonding Warehouse was built in 1875 for the storage of dutiable goods when York was still a thriving commercial port. It went on to be used exclusively by Rowntree’s for many years before being converted for restaurant use in the 1970s. Devastating flooding in 2000 saw the building fall into gradual dereliction.
 
Jonathan Gale of agent Bray Fox Smith, which is marketing the property said: “With the Bonding Warehouse development, Grantside have delivered a truly unique building, redeveloped to the highest standards while retaining a wealth of the building’s original features. Its setting, right on the riverside and in the heart of York, provides the ideal location for occupiers.
 
“Add to that a secure rental income from strong tenants, Anaplan and Grantside, and it is a very attractive and rare investment prospect with broad appeal to a range of buyers, from local and regional through to national investors.”