New Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police’s central London HQ, has gone on the market for an asking price of £250m.
City Hall says the building, first occupied by the Met in 1967, is no longer fit for purpose and would cost at least £50m to bring up to standard.
If the asking price is achieved it would represent a significant profit on the £123m paid by the now defunct Metropolitan Police Authority for the building’s freehold in 2008.
Plans to sell the building were first revealed in October 2012 as part of the Met’s efforts to reduce the size of its property holdings and slash the amount spent on building costs and maintenance.
So far the sale of underused and disused police stations and buildings has raised more than £120m, with the Met expecting to save at least £60m per year in running costs.
From 2016 the Met will occupy a new, purpose built HQ designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris. The new building will be known as Scotland Yard and retain the world-famous revolving sign.
The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime says the sale of the current building – to be marketed as Ten Broadway – will hep fund the Met’s new digital policing initiative and “more officers on the street”.
Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Stephen Greenhalgh said: “Investing in new technology is key to more preventative policing, and by selling the old Met HQ and shrinking the estate, we can afford to fund the massive programme we have underway to equip frontline officers with cutting edge technology.
“By seizing this opportunity to reshape the Met estate not only will we cut costs but we will improve the quality of policing in the capital.
“The opening of a new modern HQ in under two years will put Scotland Yard back near to the historic home of London’s police force and will mark the next chapter in the Met Police’s proud history of serving London.”
Deputy Met Commissioner, Craig Mackey, said: “The MPS is focused on providing a more modern, efficient, secure and cost-effective estate, ensuring we remain at the forefront of 21st century policing and getting more officers out on the streets, cutting crime, cutting costs and providing total care for Londoners.
“By selling this building and moving our headquarters to Curtis Green, we are able to make savings to invest in frontline policing, improving the technological capability of the force and develop facilities like a brand new, state of the art police training centre in Hendon.
“This is a significant and exciting move for us and marks a new era of policing for the MPS.”
