A COUNCIL building has been all but emptied of staff as work continues on a plan to demolish it and build a new public sector hub.

More than 1,000 staff members have now been moved out of Bradford Council’s Jacob’s Well office in Nelson Street, which would be flattened to make way for the £20m privately-financed hub under the scheme.

The plan to redevelop the site to attract new public sector organisations to the city centre was unveiled around 18 months ago.

Developers said the hub would take 22 months to build and they aimed to open it in the first quarter of 2018.

But no announcements have been made since then and no planning applications have been submitted.

A council spokesman said the developers were in “detailed negotiations” with a number of public sector organisations interested in taking up space in the new development - but the authority was keeping tight-lipped about who these might be.

Ben Middleton, Bradford Council’s assistant director for estates and property, said: “We have moved more than 1,000 staff out of Jacob’s Well.

“However, there is still a skeleton staff in the building and some training is being carried out in it.

“Staff from virtually every service in the council have been relocated to Margaret McMillan Tower, Sir Henry Mitchell House and Britannia House and Argus Chambers.

“This is to allow the release of the site in due course for the creation of the proposed public sector hub.

“The council’s preferred developers are still in detailed negotiations with a number of public sector occupiers, but it is too early to release any further details, as their individual requirements are still being worked up in terms of design and space planning.

“The council will release further information as and when further progress is made. However, the council cannot provide any further information on commercial transactions under negotiation.”

The scheme is a partnership between Bradford Council, construction group McLaren, developers Chiltington Land and consultants DragonGate.

It aims to bring up to 3,500 public sector jobs into the city by attracting organisations like Government departments, the NHS or the police.

There would be no cost to the council of the development, with lease money from tenants instead funding the build.