HMRC bosses say the start of work on their new towering office in the centre of Nottingham can kick start more development across the south side of the city.
Unity Square, opposite Nottingham train station, will house more than 4,000 revenue employees when the multi-million pound project is completed in 2021, with many nearby firms hopeful it will produce a boost in trade.
At the official ground-breaking on March 29, officials from HMRC hailed the the work currently taking place in Nottingham and said they hope the new office will be good for the city.
Steven Boyd, estates director at HMRC, said: "We hope to help kick off that southern gateway regeneration. We are certainly committed to being not just a passive employer but to play a real role in the community.
"We want to do that and if that helps the city then that is fantastic."
Nottingham was announced as the location for the regional HMRC centre in 2015 and the organisation has signed a 25-year lease on the building, which will be 13-storeys' high.
Mr Boyd explained the organisation is currently in the middle of a "large transformation" which will see it operate from 13 regional centres, including the one in Nottingham.
Staff from offices in Leicester and Lincoln will also be based in Nottingham when Unity Square is complete.
Mr Boyd added: "We considered eight factors (when deciding a location to base all East Midlands staff). We scored them all and Nottingham came out as a real winner.
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"We wanted to make sure as many people as possible could get to us, we wanted to be close to tram and railway station and we couldn't get much closer than this, so it is a great location for us."
The ground-breaking has come as work continues across the southern entrance to Nottingham, which includes the new-look intu Broadmarsh shopping centre, bus station and library.
There are also a host of other projects being mooted, such as Crocus Place, a glass-fronted Grade A office development planned for a derelict piece of land next to Nottingham train station.
The scheme itself was created by Peveril Securities and Sladen Estates.
Rachel Wood, managing director of Sladen Estates, said: "It has taken two years to bring forward this phase and we have outline planning permission for phase two (a second proposed office block next to Unity Square), so we are now turning our eyes to that.
"What Unity Square has done is kick started that whole southern gateway project, there are lots of things going on which is fantastic so we are now looking at that second phase and we can see there is going to be a big ripple effect."
Among Unity Square's neighbours is the Castle Rock Brewery and the Vat and Fiddle, which also manages the the nearby Canal House bar, in Canal Street, and the Barley Twist bar, in Carrington Street.
Lewis Townsend, the brewery's head of marketing, said: "We’re excited about the Unity Square office development and indeed the work to improve the south side of Nottingham city centre in general.
"We strongly believe that pubs are wonderful spaces in which to relax and we’re looking forward to welcoming our new neighbours who will find themselves on the doorstep of three unique Castle Rock pubs."
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