The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
City’s progress championed
PLANNERS BEHIND the £1 billion redevelopment of Dundee’s waterfront are spreading the word of the city’s transformation across the British Isles as they seek investors to commit to the project.
The team in charge of the plan to change the face of the city have revealed they are targeting London, Manchester and other cities throughout the UK — as well as Glasgow, Edinburgh andaberdeen — in an effort to draw in capital, development and new business.
City development director Mike Galloway, who is leading the project, says his roadshow of information sessions were perfectly timed to “turn on” investors and encourage them to sink their money into the works.
He will host sessions in Edinburgh and Glasgow for interested parties — including entrepreneurs, financiers and commercial property agents — next month, as well as targeted presentations in other major centres throughout Britain this year.
They aim to show the regeneration of Dundee, and the “rediscovery” of its front on to the Tay, is on course and provides exciting opportunities for companies.
The £45m V&A at Dundee museum is due to open on a man-made promontory into the Tay in 2015, while lifestyle hotel company Malmaison is committed to opening a 91-bed hotel on a prime Whitehall Crescent site next summer.
Dundee City Council has also approved plans for a new £14 million railway station, hotel, retail and office complex.
Mr Galloway said further development sites would be ready for exploitation within four to five years — in perfect time for developers to plan their next moves as they hope to climb out of recession.
He said: “The state of the waterfront project is now such that we are past the tipping point, we are past the halfway stage in terms of infrastructure works, and all of those works will be completed within five years.
“We’re now aiming to engage with the private sector in terms of developers and investors, and our aim is to turn them on to the opportunities that exist in Dundee.
“There are a substantial number of them who aren’t aware of what is happening in Dundee — and if they are they may still have some misconceptions about the city.
“What we want to do is raise awareness and try and tackle those misconceptions and in many ways now is the perfect time to do this.
“OK, we’re in recession, but we will come out of this recession and we have sites coming online over the next four or five years.
“By then the V&A will be open, the station will be redeveloped and the Malmaison will be open so there will be a backbone of activity and a real footfall of 500,000 people.
“I’d like to tell investors that story, and emphasise that this is not some pipe dream — this is reality and this is being achieved. We’re on the ground, and we’ve got the funding we need to undertake all of this.”
The waterfront plans, which are expected to create more than 9,000 jobs, have already attracted more than £300m of investment.
The 240-hectare site is split into five different areas, each targeted at a different property and economic sector.
The Riverside area is zoned for green space and leisure, with Seabraes earmarked for digital media and the creative industries.
The central area will house the V&A, as well as residential, office and other leisure developments, while City Quay is targeted for retail, marina and further residential use.
Dundee’s port is already in talks with renewable energy companies over plans which could create hundreds of engineering jobs, with the prospect of announcements on the future this year.