THE Joseph Rowntree Foundation is planning to sell Rowntree Wharf, a former flour mill in York which it bought and converted into flats and offices in the late 1980s.

The charity says it has decided to sell its freehold interest in the five-storey historic building in Navigation Road, off Walmgate, after ‘very careful and considered’ thought.

Asked about the impact of the sale on residents in the building's 68 apartments, it said the majority were long leaseholders with 'substantive protection' under statutory housing legislation.

"The terms of the lease are carried over in the sale process and the new freeholder will be bound by the same terms and the legislative framework," said a spokesman.

“Up to the point of sale we will continue to manage the building, together with our Agents, Ian Hodges and Co.”

He said the foundation was constantly reviewing its investment portfolio and, from time to time, it sold assets in line with 'organisational priorities.'

Rowntree Wharf, consisting of five stories and a nine-storey water tower, is probably York’s best industrial building, according to the Rowntree Society.

"Originally one of the largest flour mills in Europe, it was founded by Henry Leetham in 1860," says the society on its website.

"The building, designed by Walter Penty, was situated between the river Foss and Wormald’s cut, towering over the slum district of Hungate. It was supplied with grain by barge to the original mill, situated where a car park is today."

It said the mill closed in 1930 and in 1935 it became the Rowntree and Co’s Navigation Warehouse, but this gradually fell out of use as road transport replaced river transport, although cocoa beans were brought to the wharf until the 1960s.

In the 1980s, The Press reported that the former Rowntree Mackintosh company planned to open a Chocolate Experience museum at the Wharf, similar to Cadbury World in Birmingham, but the £500,000 scheme was abandoned following Rowntree's takeover by Nestlé.