A businessman who plans to turn Perth City Hall into an indoor market has emerged as the only bidder willing to take over the running of the mothballed building, The Courier can reveal.
Politicians decided the 100-year-old structure should be razed to the ground to make way for a civic square but Historic Scotland stepped in and forced the council to look at alternatives to demolition.
A tendering process which closed last week saw several interested parties put forward plans for the B-listed building. However, only Perth City Market Trust submitted a concrete bid and it will now be considered by the council’s appointed agents, Jones Lang LaSalle.
Vivian Linacre, a trustee at Perth City Market Trust, said: “We’re delighted to learn this news and look forward very much to working with the council and Jones Lang LaSalle in the coming months.”
Nina Stobie, an associate director at Jones Lang LaSalle, revealed last week that “a number of parties expressed initial interest” but when The Courier spoke to her on Monday she would not comment on the only bidder.
Ms Stobie said: “I don’t think this contradicts what we stated previously.We had a number of parties that expressed an interest in stage one.All of them were invited to participate in stage two.”
A statement released by the council confirmed limited interest in breathing new life into Perth City Hall.
A spokesman said: “Perth and Kinross Council has received one bid in relation to the marketing for sale of Perth City Hall.Some of the documentation for this bid was received late.
“However, in the absence of any other offer and to ensure every avenue is explored, the council will nonetheless put this bid through to the next stage in the process.
“This means that the bid will be examined by the council’s appointed agents, Jones Lang LaSalle, in terms of the assessment criteria.
“Jones Lang LaSalle will report to the council in due course.”
Perth City Market Trust’s indoor market could become a “major visitor and tourist attraction, unique to Perth” if it survives this process, according to Mr Linacre.
The proposal has won the backing of both the National Association ofBritish Market Authorities and the NationalMarket Traders Federation.