Just who might the proposed new three storey Cheltenham office block with parking for 120-plus cars be being built for?

That is the question we have put to the company behind the scheme to build much-needed office space in the Spa town.

An application has been put together by Gloucester architects Roberts Limbrick and development and property management firm Robert Hitchins and for the scheme off Hatherley Lane, not a million miles from the end of the Golden Valley.

The detailed proposal is for a sizeable 3,680 square metres of office space with parking for 126, cycle space for 22, and a number of disability spaces.

Simon Tothill, property and development director for Robert Hitchins Ltd, said: "We have been working on the design of this office building for some time and are confident that the quality of the office space proposed will be extremely well received by prospective tenants.

"It is our intention to retain these offices once built and add them to our commercial property portfolio as a long-term investment.

"The grade A accommodation will provide good employment opportunities and has the potential to give a healthy boost to the local economy at a time when there is a significant lack of employment space in the town."

The planning application said: "This planning statement has been prepared in support of an application for full planning permission for a three storey office building (B1 Use) together with car parking, landscaping and ancillary infrastructure on a brownfield site at Cheltenham Office Park."

A second document, a design and access statement, gives more detail: "Our approach has been to seek to develop an attractive, modern, three storey office building design, with the necessary associated facilities and parking to 'tie in' to the surrounding area and to respect the previously approved proposals both through the use of appropriate materials and the location of the building in relation to the previous layout of office buildings.

"The overarching brief from the client in design terms has been to design an office building that stands out as a landmark building in this prominent corner of the wider site, and this building will be similar in height to the previously approved office buildings."

That client is a company called Grovefield Car Parking Limited, whose Boddington headquarters are the same as Robert Hitchins, as are some of its directors.