HOPES have been boosted that York’s historic Bonding Warehouse could finally be revitalised and reopened, 11 years after it closed in the wake of flooding.

Chartered surveyors appointed in the summer to sell the riverside property have revealed that they received several bids, and they are now working with a preferred bidder.

A spokesman for the surveyors, Leeds-based Eddisons, said they were at an advanced stage of discussions and proceeding through the legal process.

He said: “Until the contract has been signed, the property remains available and any further offers received or interest generated continues to be reported to our clients.”

The Press reported in June how proposals to restore the huge building near Skeldergate Bridge had collapsed, leaving its future in doubt once again.

The Warehouse had been repossessed from East Yorkshire property developer William Legard, who had bought the building for £1.1 million four years earlier.

He originally planned to turn the Warehouse into offices on the ground floor with apartments above but when the property market collapsed in 2009, he decided instead to turn both floors into offices, but that plan also faltered.

Eddisons said in June they had been appointed by a bank as receivers to “handle the disposal” of the Grade II listed Victorian landmark, and it was selling the building on a freehold basis with vacant possession, and inviting offers in excess of £750,000.

The lower price was said by Eddisons to be an “accurate reflection of current market conditions.”

The Bonding Warehouse, which was built in 1875 and had been operating as a pub, restaurant and music venue, was flooded when the River Ouse rose to record heights in the floods of November 2000 following torrential rain.

The building covers over 17,000 sq ft and has from planning permission for redevelopment as offices and residential apartments.