WHAT could be the region’s most expensive properties are currently being created in a town’s former council offices – where two apartments are set to fetch more than £10 million each.

Ten new homes are being created in a £45m luxury housing complex in the former Harrogate Borough Council offices in Crescent Gardens, where prices start at an eye-watering £2.5m for a two-bedroom flat.

The Sunday Times reported that two four-bed penthouses are expected to go for £12m, with annual service charges of £18,000 and £20,000 for smaller flats and double that for larger properties. The service charge includes housekeeping, a concierge and 24/7 room service.

The development also boasts an underground “wellness centre” and cryotherapy spa, an art gallery headlined by Damien Hirst and shops run by Rolex and Louis Vuitton.

It will be set in landscaped gardens and expected to be complete by 2020.

It is believed the properties will set a record for the region.

Harrogate’s property first set a precedent in 2013, when a luxury apartment overlooking West Stray fetched more than £1m.

Since then a number of properties in the area have broken the £3m barrier, including Manor House near Wetherby, which sold for £3.5m more than a year ago.

The developer behind the Crescent Gardens development, Adam Thorpe, said neither prices nor service charges could be confirmed at this stage, with the final figure depending on the finish - “but we have reserved two units in excess of £10 million”.

He said: “We can however confirm that we are wishing to reinstate the original Victorian gardens along with relocation of the bandstand back into the park, along with reinstated doors.

"We anticipate to employ over 200 local people during construction over the three-year project and then 50 people from restaurant and housekeeping to art curators and house managers, once the building is up and running in 2020.

“We cannot confirm an artist in residence at this stage, but we are speaking with prominent artists and their agents.

"The key is to have something that creates a vibrant place for people to come and visit. Not just with the art but also with visiting exhibitions; think a miniature V&A.

“With the wellness spa, restaurant, art gallery and gardens, we expect this part of Harrogate will return to its Victoria splendour and once again be a wonderful reception space for the town to be proud of.”

He added: “Our vision is to create truly special residences with every aspect of lifestyle taken care of."

Crescent Gardens started out as a Victorian bathhouse before being turned into council offices in the 1930.

As well as reinstating the Victorian gardens, the development will feature a restaurant in a glass dome-shaped building, and the underground wellness centre will include a hammam spa, sauna, aromatherapy steam rooms and cryotherapy room.

The average property price in Harrogate is currently £286,800 and the average salary is £25,000.

Mr Thorpe said he had brought in some of the best names to the project as he wanted the development to "shine outside London" to prospective buyers, where properties in excess of £10m are not unusual.

He said he was looking for successful, international individuals with a "Yorkshire connection".