‘Goosecroft Road shops need more cash to attract tenants’
More money may have to be spent in a bid to find tenants for Goosecroft Road shops which have lain empty for more than three years.
The £6 million development at the corner of Maxwell Place features 53 flats with four shop units on the ground floor.
Since the building was completed at the start of 2016 residents have moved into the flats but the shops have been unoccupied, with just one - Papa John’s pizza takeaway - opening only recently.
Over the years council officials gave repeated assurances that tenants were due to move in.
And at a meeting of Stirling Council’s environment and housing committee last Thursday, they provided yet another update - including that the largest unit may need more investment to attract interest.
Members also heard that the council’s property costs were currently running at £72,000 over budget, mainly due to additional works expected at the units.
Infrastructure delivery officer Drew Leslie said Papa John’s was now up and running. The opening of another unit had been delayed because of the tenant waiting for special ventilation equipment but was expected to be ready by mid-March.
The largest unit, however was still creating“a challenge”.
Mr Leslie said:“The advice from our agent is that unit 2A should be let as a shell. This will be tested for a short period, but a landlord fit out is being considered. We are going to give it a real push to look at options.
“They are sizable units and the agents have said that now that Papa John’s are in as a key tenant we should get some movement now. I’m purely concerned that the type of tenant we are looking for isn’t biting at the moment to take bigger unit. I’m prepared to say we make another investment in unit 2A if it enables even short term use because it’s going to be a challenge.”
However, Councillor Danny Gibson said:“It has been a year since I started raising this in this committee. After all these years we are still using the same agent. We are still waiting.”
However, SNP councillor Alasdair Macpherson said:“At the end of the day officers have tried their best, the agents are trying their best and are among the best in the country. I think it’s unfair criticism.”
In September committee members heard a tenant – Premier Eye Clinic and Laser Surgery Ltd – was moving into unit one the following month.