A prominent Dundee city centre site that will house a BT call centre for 1,000 staff has changed hands.
The Greenmarket site, at the rear of Groucho’s record shop, has been acquired by stock market listed company Lxi Reit.
The property has been fully pre-let to BT Group on a 17-and-a-half-year lease.
The real estate investment trust will receive a cash-backed income from the developer during the construction period in line with the purchase yield.
Lxi Reit announced the acquisition of the 77,000sq ft Dundee office as it also confirmed it had acquired five customer service, car storage and repair and maintenance facilities.
No breakdown of the deals was provided but the acquisitions were transacted on an off-market basis totalling £57 million.
Work on new Dundee office to start soon
A BT spokesperson said building work is expected to begin soon.
When complete, the call centre will house the firm’s 1,000 staff in Dundee city centre.
Once the new multi-million-pound office is completed, the major Dundee employer will then vacate offices in Ward Road it has occupied since 1976.
BT said the investment will help transform the way it works, create efficiencies and enable it to better serve customers.
A spokesman for the telecoms giant said: “Following our announcement last year that we intend to invest in a new contact centre in Dundee, we are pleased that the project continues to move forward.
“We expect building work to commence soon and we’ll announce more details in due course.
“Our investments will ensure that around 1,000 colleagues in Dundee will benefit from state-of-the-art facilities and support the exciting regeneration of the city.”
Dundee a ‘key location’ for BT
In 2020, BT committed to Dundee as a key location as it looked to reduce its number of offices.
The new building will include what the designers have described as a “street landscape”.
These are areas for workers to socialise while enjoying views over Dundee and the River Tay.
The plans, approved by Dundee City Council last year, also include 16 flats and four retail outlets.
The site has been vacant since the late 1980s, when it was occupied by Mitchell’s Self Drive.
Previous ambitions for the prominent site included a 104-room hotel, offices and public bar.
