DESIGNS for a £9.75m building project on Oxford's George Street have been revealed for the first time.

Oxford City Council wants to demolish 1-5 George Street and replace it with a major office and restaurant complex.

The development would more than double the floor space currently available in the buildings – increasing it from 8,812 sq ft to 20,500 sq ft.

The complex would replace the former Solutions luggage shop and Ask Italian restaurant and other offices above it.

The city council said the complex would ‘add to the continued vibrancy of the city centre’ and will put the plans on show to the public this weekend.

Graham Jones, from Oxford business group ROX, said: “You have to be positive that if the city council feels there is a definite market [for offices] and that it’ll be good for Oxford.

“But we would want to make sure that it fits in with the architecture of George Street.”

He added: “If there’s a market there for offices and retail, then fine. Obviously Oxford is going through a change in terms of retail – as is the rest of the UK – but if the council’s willing to invest, then great.”

The city council will hold a consultation tomorrow and on Saturday gathering residents’ opinions on the project.

Ed Turner, the city council’s board member for finance and asset management, said: “We’d like to hear your views on our plans to redevelop 1-5 George Street to provide first class office, retail and restaurant accommodation to businesses in the centre of Oxford.

“When completed, the new development will help generate revenues for the council to enable us to safeguard the funding of our vital frontline services.”

He added: “It will also add to the continued vibrancy of the city centre, which is experiencing a period of sustained regeneration.

“The new Westgate Oxford Centre reopened in October last year after two years of redevelopment works and on Cornmarket Street new redevelopment projects are expected to follow in the near future.”

The project to demolish and rebuild 1-5 George Street was unveiled last September and given support by the city council’s executive board at a meeting that month.

Since then the city council has been working with real estate and investment firm CBRE on it.

The authority said it hopes it will make as much as £630,000 every year with increased rents in the new buildings.

It had first considered ‘modestly refurbishing’ the site but it decided knocking it down and starting with the site again would be a better option.

The new 20,500 sq ft would be made up of 3,500 sq ft for a restaurant and a further 17,000 sq ft for office accommodation.

Most of the buildings have not required planning permission in the last 20 years, although 4 George Street has undergone most changes of all of them recently.

It was built in 1910 and although it is not listed, it is part of the Oxford Conservation Area. In 2009, its upper floors became offices after previously being used as student accommodation.

Planning permission for a new frontage at 5 George Street was granted by the city council in 1997.

There has been concern that if rent collections remain as projected and the city council’s budget does not alter, then it would take more than 15 years for the project to make a profit.

Italian restaurant ASK, a chiropodist, a dentist and Solutions had traded from 1-5 George Street. The council originally said it wanted the site free by December 2017, but all tenants had left by the spring.

Residents can have their say on the plans at Oxford Town Hall’s Long Room from 3pm until 7pm on Friday and from 9am until 1pm on Saturday.