PLANS to transform a publicly owned-building in the middle of Oxford into an office for start-ups will be finished by the end of summer.

The refurbishment of 1-3 George Street, a building owned by Oxford City Council, was originally meant to be finished by March this year according to the council’s own estimated.

But a new August deadline has been set instead for the project to turn the empty building into a co-working space, after behind the scenes studies to prepare for the work took longer than planned.

At the same time, the city council has agreed to spend more cash on the plans, alongside extra grant funding from the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

A council report on the project said it needed to be urgently completed.

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It said: “There is an imperative to move forward with the development given the condition of the property, which is not currently lettable and furthermore, to take the opportunity of using time-limited OxLEP funding to deliver accessible workspace, as part of the city’s economic recovery agenda.”

Once finished, it is claimed the new office could provide as many as 85 new jobs in the middle of Oxford.

Alongside the new jobs, the council hopes that letting out the building through a company which specialises in operating co-work offices could result in an extra £36.7m gross value added to the local economy.

The building work is also likely to support 28 construction 'job years': the equivalent of employing 28 builders for a year, though this will likely mean more people over the next eight months when the work is taking place.

But while the council had planned a £1.6m overall budget to fund the refurbishment over the next two years, it estimates the overall cost has grown to £1.921m.

To fund this, the council needs an extra £346,000 of grant funding from OxLEP, plus an extra £1.07m of its own cash.

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The vacant 1-3 George Street could soon be a start-up office. Picture: Ed Nix

The council predicts that it will also make money back in rent once the project is complete, though the estimated income from this has not been made public.

The OxLEP grant awarded to the council for transforming old buildings into offices was £1.93m in total, with £750,000 originally due to be spent on George Street, and the rest marked for another building called Standingford House at Cave Street off St Clements.

Plans for how George Street might look when complete were revealed late last year, and a planning application for the refurbishment works was approved earlier this month.

The council plans to redecorate the interior of the building, making room for an open plan office and a food area for workers.

At the same time it has plans to convert the flat roof of an extension behind the building into an outdoor terrace.

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Artists impressions of the terrace show an overhead timber framework to shelter people from the rain, as well as benches and potted plants.

A new lift would also be installed behind the building to make it more accessible.

As Oxford City Council met on Monday night (January 25) its members unanimously signed off on starting works to the building.

Liz Wade, a Liberal Democrat councillor, said her party 'strongly supported' the works, but raised concerns about the short timetable for finishing it.

Dick Wolff, a Green councillor, said he had wanted to see more detail on the energy efficiency promised for the refitted building.

The council’s report into the refurbishment said it will have a ‘Very Good’ rating for energy use under an internationally recognised assessment system.

In 2017, the city council had planned to knock down its buildings at George Street and replace them for the cost of £9.75m.

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The new, cheaper plan to refurbish the building was first discussed publicly in July last year.

Plans for co-working space are also included in another nearby redevelopment project: When Boswells Department Store is refitted as the new four-star boutique hotel the Store, there will be a co-working area on its ground floor.