PLANS have been drawn up to demolish offices near a shopping centre on the edge of York and create a new retail warehouse.

The scheme would involve knocking down Arabesque House on Monks Cross Drive and replacing it with a unit which would be used for the sale of “bulky goods”.

The venture would create local jobs both during the construction and operation, according to agents behind the venture.

York-based Smith & Ball LLP have applied for planning permission for the project from City of York Council after saying the current office complex is not suitable for modern demands and the changes would open the door for new jobs to be created.

“The building has been under-occupied for some time and there is little prospect of a successful lease of the floor space, given the age of the building and its unsuitability for modern office needs,” said a statement submitted to the council by planning consultants O’Neill Associates, the agents for the scheme.

“The current market conditions would not justify a wholesale refurbishment of the existing building or the redevelopment of the site for new offices. As a consequence, the owners have decided to demolish the building.”

Two of the office suites at Arabesque House, which once housed the headquarters of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, are currently occupied by a firm whose lease expires in March 2013, while two others were taken by companies whose agreement had already run out.

O’Neill Associates said the building, which was built in the early 1990s, was now out of date and offered a “poor quality of accommodation”, while income from businesses renting space there was likely to decrease, making it less viable for its owners to pay empty property rates.

“The proposal will promote economic growth by creating much-needed retail floorspace in York for the sale of bulky goods, and by creating local jobs during operation and the construction period,” said the statement. If the plans are approved, the new unit is expected to be designed along the lines of retail warehouses used by major DIY chains. The council is set to make a decision in September.