York: work starts ahead of Swinson House demolition

Hoarding has gone up around the former Swinson House in Piccadilly in York.

Back Lane opposite the parish Hall in Dennis Street is currently closed with parts of the footpath around the building now closed ahead of demolition work getting underway.

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The road has been closed at the rear of the building (Image: Haydn Lewis)

As The Press reported back in 2022 there are plans to redevelop the site into a new 132-room hotel.

At that point developers North Star bought the former government tax office from the Dominvs Group for an undisclosed amount.

An operator has yet to be announced.

Hoarding going up around Swinson House (Image: Haydn Lewis)

Built in 1938, the 35,000 sq ft building next to Spark York was previously occupied by HMRC, but was vacated because it was outdated and no longer fit for purpose.

Dominvs Group lodged plans with City of York Council at the end of 2019 for Swinson House at 23 Piccadilly, to demolish the existing building and construct a part-four and part-six storey hotel.

The application was for 132 bedrooms, reduced from 146 in the original submission, as well as a ground floor restaurant and bar open to the public.

The council's planning committee approved plans for the development, subject to conditions, in August 2020.

It was estimated at the time that the proposed hotel would create between 50 and 70 full and part-time jobs during construction and once in operation.

An artist's impression of how the new hotel will look (Image: Supplied)

The total gross development value (GDV) of the project - what it may be worth once all the development works have been completed - is in excess of £25 million.

Swinson House sits within City of York Council’s Castle Gateway masterplan which will see the whole area rejuvenated with new public realm and high-quality development providing massive improvements to this key part of York.

Hoarding around the site next to Spark:York (Image: Haydn Lewis)

HMRC employed almost 200 people in York about 14 years ago, at two offices in St Saviourgate and Piccadilly.

Only about 30 people worked at the building when it closed. An HMRC spokesman said at the time that staff from York would move to an existing HMRC office in Leeds.

He said HMRC was ‘transforming to create a tax authority fit for the future, increasing tax revenue and improving customer service, by creating 13 new modern regional centres in locations where the majority of our staff are already based.’

The building has been derelict for some time