WORK has begun on a massive £9 million speculative office project to the north of the Monks Cross shopping centre.

Already legal talks are in progress with two unnamed organisations in the healthcare industry to occupy half of the 52,500 sq ft which will be available for sale or to let by next October.

Called the Alpha Development, the first of five units will be available next July with all of them completed in a year's time.

It is the second phase of a £60 million business park being developed on 40 acres of the edge-of-York site, with the potential ultimately to accommodate 5,000 jobs. First phase is the £12 million purpose-built accommodation for Norwich Union Life at Monks Cross North.

The 80,000 sq ft building, due for completion next May, will accommodate 750 Norwich Union Life staff, 500 of whom are presently housed in 40,000 sq ft of temporary offices close by.

Behind the project is the Monks Cross Partnership, a collaboration between Yorkshire property and investment company, The Helmsley Group, and local developers Hugh Ball and Peter Smith.

The partnership will later this year seek planning permission for a third phase of the business park - up to 75,000 sq ft of office space, together with a 6,000 sq ft children's nursery. Completion date, it is hoped, will be the end of 2003.

The remaining land will be developed in phases over the next five to ten years, depending on demand

Richard Peak, director of The Helmsley Group, and spokesman for the Monks Cross Partnership, said: "Despite being built speculatively, half the scheme is already under offer with solicitors instructed.

"The potential occupants are a mix of local companies looking to expand their existing operation and companies from outside the area." The Partnership has appointed York-based 21st Construction, working with principal sub-contractor, Irwins, to build the offices in the Alpha development.

The five office units will each feature broadband fibreoptic links, carpeted raised floors, tinted double glazed opening windows, feature reception areas, suspended ceilings, modular lighting, gas-fired heating and cooling systems.

Previous work by 21st Century Construction includes the development of a £3.5 million office and retail scheme plus visitor centre at the University of York's Heslington campus.

Updated: 08:52 Tuesday, October 22, 2002