Chester’s County Hall sold for £10m

THE University of Chester has bought County Hall in Chester from the city council for around £10m.

The university will use County Hall as the base for its faculties of Health & Social Care and Education & Children’s Services. It will also house staff from support services such as marketing, recruitment and admissions.

Professor Tim Wheeler, the University of Chester’s vice-chancellor, said: “This is not only good news for the university, enabling us to achieve the modest growth which is proportionate to the current and projected size of our student population and financially realistic, but also for the city.”

He added: “Acquiring such a flagship, classically-designed building as County Hall in such a prime location is an unrivalled opportunity for the university to be represented closer to the city centre, as is the case with many other higher education institutions in historic cities.”

The university said it will continue to invest in a measured way to provide the best facilities for its students and staff and added it is exploring its options for the construction of new student accommodation, close to the main campus on Parkgate Road.

The acquisition mirrors that of Kingsway High School in 2006, now home to the university’s faculty of arts and media, in that it is a short distance from the main campus and will be non-residential.

The council said its sale of County Hall will not result in any cost to the council tax payer and will save an estimated £750,000 a year.