Winds of change on Dundee's waterfront

Published on Monday 21 June 2010 19:03

ONE regrettable consequence of building the Tay road bridge was the demolition of Dundee's Royal Arch, a huge decorative structure built between 1849 and 1853 to celebrate an earlier visit by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

The arch, 82ft wide by 84ft high, cost the then enormous sum of 3,000, mostly funded by public subscription and harbour trustees. In 1964, however, the structure stood in the way of the bridge approach roads and so was dynamited; today, it would probably have been given a preservation order and moved elsewhere.

It must, therefore, give satisfaction to surviving Dundonians who opposed demolition to know that the Victoria & Albert Museum will become a significant factor in the regeneration of the city when it opens a gallery, hosting touring exhibitions and design research, in a waterfront building whose completion is scheduled for 2014.

The V&A scheme is contained within one of three areas of development of the waterfront; which also includes the railway station, the upgrade of which is likely to coincide with the opening of the gallery. The second area is the approach to the Tay Bridge, which will be made less obtrusive, with open space exploited to link the waterfront with the city centre proper.

The third location, a mixture of business space, retail and residential, contains a large high-specification office scheme, Dundee One, the brainchild of the Unicorn Property Group.

Leading the launch of the second phase of the scheme earlier this month was Unicorn director Tim Allan, a former banker for whom Dundee One was partly driven by his experience of working at St Katherine's Dock in London, which showed him how vibrant a business place a waterfront location could be.

Planning permission for City Court, the first phase, was granted in August 2007, shortly after which the full 50,000sq ft of accommodation was let to the Scottish Police Services Authority, although Allan insists that had that not occurred, development of both phases would have proceeded apace.

River Court is more or less a twin building, also comprising about 50,000sq ft over ground and four upper floors.

The space is regarded by its promoters as grade A, which has encouraged Unicorn to target potential tenants who might otherwise be considering only Edinburgh or Glasgow city centres. .

In addition to public sector and local commercial firms looking to upgrade, there is another source of occupier from an area of business that has come to life only recently – offshore renewable energy. Said Allan: "Dundee lost out on the North Sea oil boom but is determined not to lose out on the North Sea renewable energy boom."

What he means is the granting of licences for round three of offshore wind farms in the North Sea. One of these zones is "Firth of Forth" which despite the name stretches from Angus to East Lothian, about 15 miles off the coastline.

Consequently Dundee Renewables – a private, public and academic partnership – believes the port is best placed to service the turbines that will be set up offshore.

Given that the operators and their suppliers may require business accommodation this implies tempting prospects.

CCLA swaps 2.295m for warehouse

CCLA Investment Management, advised by King Sturge, has acquired a distribution warehouse on Eurocentral from Tritax on behalf of the COIF Charities Property Fund. The disposal price of 2.295 million reflects a net initial yield of circa 8 per cent. This industrial building with an integral 40,000 sq ft office block is fully-let to City Link Property on a lease which runs until 1 September 2017. CBRE and SG Commercial for Tritax. Earlier, King Sturge, acquired an office pavilion at nearby Strat

GRAHAM & Sibbald, on behalf of Clackmannanshire Council, has sold the former Claremont workshops site in Alloa to the Mulraney Group. The buildings will be converted to an arts & craft village, offering 15 units. The price was 301,004.

TWO more tenants have signed leases at Greenlaw Village in Newton Mearns. Crazy Wok has taken an 842sq ft unit at 30 a sq ft, and Newton Mearns Dry Cleaners 657sq ft at 25. Lambert Innes acted for Crazy Wok and Sutherland Brown for Newton Mearns Dry Cleaners. Kennedy & Co and SGM are the joint letting agents.

A HAT-TRICK of deals from Eric Young & Co, which represented landlord Jasper in the letting of 2 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh to First XV, the total space of 1,200 sq ft has been taken on a ten-year lease at 15,500pa. Still in the capital, Eyco acted for Ramsdens Financial in its lease of 1 Duke Street from William Harrower, represented by J&E Shepherd. In the west, Eyco eased Optical Express into a lease, again of ten years, of 134 Drymen Road, Bearsden from the McCormack Partnership, represented by Culverwell. The rental for 842 sq ft is 25,000pa.

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