One of the borough's top businessmen is "aghast" at the council decision to sell Brighton Road car park for the reported figure of £3m.
At this week's full Sutton Council meeting, Councillor Peter Geiringer told councillors and members of the public the council had agreed to sell the car park to offshore engineering company Subsea7 for about £3m.
It is the first time any figures relating to the deal have been revealed publically, and Ray Harwood, managing director of property experts Centro, said he can see why after analysing figures.
Mr Harwood, a chartered surveyor and property developer with 50 years experience, said: "As somebody who is supposed to know a bit about property valuations, if the figure is close to that one reported, the deal is quite dreadful for the council."
Following Subsea7's announcement in February that it intended to buy Brighton Road, level it, and put a state-of-the-art office in its place, Mr Harwood fronted a rival bid on behalf of Barratt Homes.
He said: "The bid was substantially higher than the £3m reportedly accepted by the council from Subsea7, and the car park would have been saved if our bid had been accepted. The decision to sell by the council, on an asset management level, was unwise, unless there was some further not previously disclosed issues."
Last week Centro started its own petition to give to Sutton Council in response to the plans to knock down the car park amid concerns from businesses about how town centre parking will be affected.
Mr Harwood announced the petition will join with Reed Business Information's 247 signature-strong petition, which was presented to the council strategy and resources committee last week.
Mr Harwood said: "We are both important businesses in the area and we do not believe the council is getting the best deal for the tax payer, nor are they taking tax payers feelings into consideration. Of all the people I have spoken to about the proposed closure of the car park, only a handful been in favour of it."
A spokesman for Sutton Council said: "The car park has not been sold and will not be sold without planning permission.
"We welcome petitions and would like to hear what the public have to say about the proposals."
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