An Aberdeen city centre car park is in line for a £1.2million refurbishment as part of a deal with energy giant Shell.
Shell UK announced last year it was moving its Shell North Sea base from Tullos to the Silver Fin building on Union Street.
Now Aberdeen City Council has announced the nearby Chapel Street car park will be upgraded, with about 80% of spaces allocated to Shell on weekdays.
Use of the car park is expected to increase “significantly” and it is hoped the new arrangements will boost footfall in the area during the work week.
More than 1,000 Shell staff will move into the city centre, but are not expected to all be there at the same time due to flexible working.
Simon Roddy, senior vice president of Upstream for Shell, said: “We are eager to play our part in the regeneration of Aberdeen city centre as it builds back from the pandemic.
“The move to the Silver Fin building is a signal of our continued commitment to the city and the region and the start of the refurbishment works is an example of the positive impact we hope our relocation to the city centre can make.”
In August, the city growth and resources committee approved the lease of the car park and associated upgrades after building owners asked to acquire the Chapel Street site to meet its new parking requirements.
Six months of work
The “extensive” refurbishment at Chapel Street will include decoration of the parking area and stairwells, structural repairs, lighting upgrades, re-lining and a CCTV upgrade.
The work costs will be shared between the council, Silver Fin owners and Shell, with the latter to pay commercial rent for the spaces it will occupy.
A new access barrier solution will also be installed to allow Shell employees access to 400 of the spaces between Monday and Friday.
The remaining 100 spaces will be available to the public and include existing blue badge, car club and electric vehicle charging bays.
The car park will solely be for public use on weekends.
Ryan Houghton, the council’s city growth and resources convener, said: “It is good to see that work on the upgrades for Chapel Street car park are to start soon and I’m sure people using the facility will appreciate the work when it is finished.”
The work will start on April 24 and the car park is expected to be closed until October.
Businesses with monthly passes for Chapel Street car park will be able to use Denburn car park as an alternative while work is carried out.
The council suggests members of the public use nearby on-street parking, as well as the short stay Summer Street and long stay Denburn car parks.
