NHS Grampian pulls out of Aberdeenshire Council Woodhill House lease
Aberdeenshire Council’s plan to save £500,000 by leasing out part of its Woodhill House headquarters has been dashed after NHS Grampian pulled out of talks.
The cash-strapped local authority had hoped savings of £477,000 could be made by renting out part of its Aberdeen base to public sector partners.
Any new occupants would have shared the building’s running costs.
However, it was revealed that one potential tenant had withdrawn their interest and would not be moving in after all despite “positive talks”.
Back in 2023, council officers unveiled a proposal to rent out part of its city HQ following more than £5.5 million refurbishment works.
It was also said that three partners were in talks to make the move to the Westburn Road site.
NHS Grampian was one of those in discussions to take on a lease.
But, bosses have since made the “difficult” decision not to move some of its teams to Woodhill House.
It comes as the health board faces a whopping £82.5m overspend for the year – and a battle to save £35m.
In a statement to staff, they explained: “Our financial position has worsened since we began our work reviewing office accommodation.
“This is just one of many hard decisions the organisation will have to take in the coming months as we try to get back to financial balance.”
Health chiefs went on to say they would look at improving the office spaces it currently owns and leases instead.
Staff will also be supported with hybrid working to allow them to work “as flexibly as possible”.
Police Scotland will press ahead with its plan to create a response policing hub at Woodhill House.
Staff previously based at the Rosemount, Mastrick and Whinhill stations will relocate to a new base in an annexe building next to the main reception.
Support functions had transferred to the council HQ ahead of the sale of the Queen Street police station in 2022.
Chief superintendent Graeme Mackie explained that officers would benefit from having access to these teams at the same site.
He added: “Having one fully utilised building instead of three within 3.5 miles of each other makes operational and financial sense.
“All of our buildings incur running costs, ongoing repairs and maintenance, and in Aberdeen it makes sense to dispose of the smaller buildings to create bigger policing teams that can serve our communities more effectively.”
Work will continue to create the new hub and it is hoped that officers can begin to move in later this year.
As lease talks have collapsed, the savings have not been made and this will impact on the council budget due to be discussed and agreed next month.
Officers will now look at securing other prospective tenants and ramp up its marketing plans in a bid to fill the vacant space.
Members of the business services committee asked for regular updates on progress at Woodhill House to be given when they met earlier today.
