A council-owned retail unit built as part of the Olympia in Dundee has been empty for more than a decade without a single tenant taking on the property.
The space has been ready for occupancy since 2013 but the local authority has failed to convince anyone to take on the shop in the 11 years since.
Dundee City Council says it has employed a “major national firm” to try to bring the unit on East Whale Lane, next to the Gallagher Retail Park, into use for the first time.
The local authority is trying to attract a tenant at a time when the Olympia is going through a host of issues and pool closures of its own.
Council leader John Alexander has announced an independent investigation into the troubled leisure centre.
An investigation by The Courier revealed that the local authority also owned a retail unit at 7 Castle Street in the city centre which was empty for over seven years.
In February, Creative Dundee took over the tenancy of the Castle Street property on a short-term basis to May.
Thousands spent maintaining unit
The Olympia property is currently listed for lease at £75,000 per annum – a drop of £3,000 over the last two years.
A Dundee City Council spokesperson told The Courier: “The council has employed a major national firm of surveyors to assist with the marketing of the retail unit.
“The property is listed on several websites, is being advertised both nationally and locally and targeted marketing is being undertaken.
“As well as retail, other potential uses for the unit are also being considered.”
In 2022, an FOI by The Courier revealed that more than £10,000 of taxpayer money had been spent on maintaining and marketing the site.
Investigation into empty retail units
The Courier has been tracking empty retail spaces in Dundee city centre for nearly a year.
For our investigation we bought 18 property deeds of units which have been vacant the longest in the city centre.
The Olympia building falls just outside of the geographical lines of our investigation but would have been the third longest vacant unit if included – the position occupied by the council’s other property on Castle Street.
Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley, Optical Express CEO David Moulsdale and developers living in Hong Kong were revealed to be the owners of other vacant properties in the city centre.
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