THE owner of York’s long-empty Bonding Warehouse says a national company still wants to buy it and turn it into a hotel and restaurant.

But property developer William Legard said the sale of the landmark riverside property would be subject to planning permission, and an application had not yet been submitted to City of York Council.

He said planning consultants had been in discussions with the authority prior to the drawing up of an application for the Grade II listed building. If permission was granted, the sale to the unidentified company would go ahead.

The Bonding Warehouse, once a popular bar and entertainment venue, has lain empty and boarded up for more than a decade since it was badly flooded by the River Ouse in November 2000.

When Mr Legard bought the building in 2007 for more than £1 million, he hoped it would be refurbished and redeveloped within two years, but the project hit major delays.

In early December Mr Legard, from near Driffield, told The Press he had little hope of selling it in the foreseeable future because of the poor property market, and he feared it could be five years before it was refurbished.

But just weeks later, there was a dramatic turnaround in its fortunes as he revealed that a national company, which had expressed an interest in the building previously, had been back in touch to say it wanted to go ahead with buying the property.

He said then his solicitor was drawing up papers to sell the site in Skeldergate, and he hoped the sale could be completed in the new year.

Mr Legard had originally looked at converting the building into luxury flats and a restaurant and then switched to planning offices and flats.

The property will be sold with protective measures in place to prevent it flooding again, even if the River Ouse once more hits the record levels reached in 2000.

A “concrete boat” has effectively been created inside the exterior building, lined with materials to prevent floodwaters from getting in through the walls or the floors to the ground or upper floors. However, the basement, which will not be occupied, will be freely allowed to flood.