The new tenants of One City Park have told Bradford Council they want to make the announcement about their move, rather than Bradford Council.
But Councillors have been told the unnamed company already has staff in the building, preparing it for the move.
For months the Council has said an announcement on the first tenants of the new Grade A office building would be made in the near future – but time has passed without any announcement.
At the last Council meeting of the year earlier this month, Councillors asked when the announcement would finally be made.
Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe said the tenant, which is expected to take roughly half of the space in the five-storey office building, had asked that they be allowed to make the announcement themselves – rather than it coming from Bradford Council.
In a question at the meeting, Cllr Brendan Stubbs (Lib Dem, Eccleshill) asked: “Who is the first tenant and how many other tenants are awaiting final contracts?”
The response from the Council Executive said: “One City Park is the first commercial development in the city centre in 20 years and is crucial in providing high-quality workspace to bring good quality jobs to the district.
“The final work on the building has finished and I’m pleased to say contracts have been entered into for an anchor tenant for One City Park.
“The timing of the announcement as to who it is is in the gift of the tenant, not the Council and we must respect their wishes not to make an announcement until they are ready to do so.
“The construction of the building has finished and there is firm interest from businesses in letting the rest of the space.
“The announcement of the first letting will support further marketing of the remaining space.”
Cllr Stubbs said: “I accept that the tenants themselves have the right to publicise that they have taken the space, but I don’t think it would be a breach of confidentiality to say when the lease will start or when they will start occupying the site.
“People are keen to see this prove successful.”
Cllr Hinchliffe replied: “I don’t know the date they will occupy the building, but they are already in there fitting out the building now. People might not realise that is ongoing.
“Unfortunately, I cannot announce things for them.”
In a separate question, Cllr Julie Glentworth (Cons, Keighley West) asked: “Whether the building is exacerbating the problem of empty Grade 1 offices in the city centre?”
A response said: “Whilst the generic office market is oversupplied, there is interest in One City Park due to its prime location and quality – both of which are attractive to occupiers.”
