Historic Torquay Town Hall goes on the market

Torquay’s historic Old Town Hall has been put up for sale for an asking price of £200,000. 

The property is located on the busy junction of Union Street (Torquay’s principle high street) and Abbey Road.

Built in the 1850’s, and steeped in history, the property was Torquay’s original town hall and clock tower. The landmark building was used as Torbay Council’s offices until the early 20th century. 

It has since been used as office accommodation, partly for a nightclub, restaurant, synagogue and at ground floor level at Union Street as public conveniences.

It is currently owned by local hotelier Keith Richardson, who purchased the building in 2021 with plans to reportedly turn it into apartments. There have been a variety of plans for its redevelopment since Torbay Council sold it in 2009 but so far, none have materialised.

The estate agents involved in the sale, Bettesworths, say that internally, the property is in poor condition and requires full refurbishment.

They added: “This landmark property overlooks the ‘GPO’ roundabout and presents a fantastic opportunity for many uses in a superb location.

“The largely open layout of the building lends itself to conversion or to residential or to continue in a variety of possible commercial uses, subject to any necessary consents.”