Council chiefs in Swansea have committed nearly £3 million towards another new office block in the city centre. The five-storey building has planning permission and will take shape on land between St Mary’s Church and the new multi-storey car park off Albert Row. It has always been described as being a public sector office building, or hub, but private sector interest will also be sought now for some of the office space. The ground floor will have commercial units while public sector organisations, and potentially some private sector ones, will occupy the four floors above. Cabinet members heard more about the project at a meeting on June 26 and agreed to allocate £2.95 million to take the project forward, including procuring a contractor, although the actual construction cost won’t be known for some time. It emerged that the council will only occupy one floor of the new building instead of two as had been proposed, but this will still enable it to finally decant all staff from the seafront Civic Centre. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here Council leader Rob Stewart said the authority was in discussions with the Welsh and UK Governments about the potential relocation of some of their staff to the new block. The council has previously commissioned a new office block on The Kingsway – 71/72 The Kingsway – which is due to open shortly, while new office space has also been created by a private sector firm on the corner of Princess Way and St Mary Street. Two tenants have been announced for 71/72 The Kingsway – travel company TUI and workspace provider IWG Ltd – which will occupy just over a quarter of the five-storey building. Cllr Stewart said high quality office and mixed-use space was “hugely important if we are to continue to regenerate the city centre” and that “strong demand is building” for 71/72 The Kingsway. The new block is part of a wider regeneration project planned for the surrounding area, known as Swansea Central, in collaboration with a council development partner called Urban Splash . If all goes to plan for the authority and Urban Splash there’ll be new shops, restaurants and walkways, as well as the office block, connecting to the city centre at one end and the new Copr Bay development at the other. The Copr Bay development comprises the new but unfinished multi-storey car park, flats, commercial units, yellow pedestrian bridge across Oystermouth Road and the Swansea Building Society Arena. A report before cabinet said the aim was to finalise design work for the office block this year, appoint a contractor and break ground in April, May or June 2026 and complete the building in October, November or December 2027. It added there were already interested parties in the office space. Cabinet has previously allocated £2.68 million in pre-development and other costs to move the project forward. Deputy council leader Andrea Lewis seconded the report. “It has been a huge amount of work to get us to this stage and it’s great to see this report here today,” she said.