Inverness may get city-centre office building as part of £35m scheme

Plan for Rose Street site will be first such development in several years

By nichola workman

Published:

A major new office development could be built in Inverness as part of a £35million scheme to regenerate a city-centre eyesore, the Press and Journal can reveal.

If the plans for the four-storey building in Rose Street are given council backing, it will be the first office development to be built in the centre of the city in several years.

And it could spark a reversal in the trend of accommodating office space in out-of-town retail and business parks, which has been blamed for a downturn in the fortunes of city-centre businesses. The striking building, to be sited next the former Safeway supermarket, will house 6,000sq ft of shops on its ground floor and 18,000sq ft of open space office development on the three upper floors.

Charles Barbour, the development manager of Upland Developments, which is behind the proposals, said: “There is a lack of the right quality of offices in the city centre. A lot are older stock that don’t readily meet the needs of modern office occupiers.”

It forms the third phase of a major development of the eyesore site by the Aviemore-based development company, and the plans were submitted to Highland Council on Monday.

The old Safeway building is currently being split into three separate shops, and an additional building will be built for another retailer.

The Press and Journal understands that further plans are being drawn up to rejuvenate the site, next to a multi-storey car park and the city bus station.

Last year there was speculation that the development could include a major hotel.

Last night Mr Barbour said he expected the stores in the former Safeway building to be ready for occupation by the end of the month, but he admitted no deals have yet been signed.

Upland Developments had expected to let the units to companies that would normally trade from an out-of-town retail park, like TK Maxx or Matalan.

He said the “retail warehouse market” was suffering as a result of global economic problems, but he added: “We are in advanced negotiations over a number of properties, and we’re hoping to make an announcement fairly shortly.”

Mr Barbour expects the office development, which will be located next to the main supermarket building, to be completed by next spring, if it is granted planning permission. Work finally started on the site in November last year after several months delay, blamed on problems trying to secure a building warrant from Highland Council.

Early last year the Press and Journal revealed that both Travelodge and the Golden Tulip hotel groups were interested in the site.