A NEW multi-million pound phase of office building at Monks Cross, Huntington, York, will cater for proprietors of small owner-managed businesses who want to buy rather than rent.

Land owner, the Monks Cross Partnership, which has been developing the £60 million Monks Cross North business park, is now planning a terrace of six two-storey high-spec offices for sale on a 0.5-acre site, right next to its newly-developed offices for Norwich Union Life.

The office accommodation, in sizes of 1,380 sq ft and 1,800 sq ft, will be ready to move into by the end of this year.

Features planned include broadband fibre-optic links, carpeted raised floors, tinted double glazed opening windows, feature reception areas, suspended ceilings and modular lighting, gas central heating and dedicated car parking.

Richard Peak, director of The Helmsley Group and spokesman for the Monks Cross Partnership said the new offices would go with the grain of a trend to buy rather than rent.

He said: "There has never been a better time to purchase commercial property. Small owner-managed businesses are taking advantage of the low cost of borrowing and investing in their own offices either directly or via their pension funds.

"Property is an excellent long-term investment, and an attractive alternative following the disappointments and scandals in the pensions market.

"If owner managers invest in commercial property now, they have the potential to reap the rewards of capital growth when they sell the business or when they retire."

Project-managed by the Monks Cross Partnership, the design of the buildings will follow the style of its already-completed developments on the business park.

That includes the £9 million Alpha scheme which consists of seven high-specification offices officially opened by the Duke of York last November.

Of these, a 10,000 sq ft office has been leased to IT firm Trustmarque Solutions which is centralising its split operations in Clifton Moor. Four are being marketed for lease or sale, and two are being legally processed for sale, one to a financial services company, the other to a property group.

Updated: 11:59 Tuesday, February 24, 2004