A second bidder has entered the race for Angus Council offices in Forfar which are the target for a JD Wetherspoon ‘superpub’.
The Courier can reveal that a prominent Angus businessman has lodged an offer for the property at the Cross which was the subject of a special closed doors meeting last week at which councillors agreed the authority should proceed with private negotiations with the national pub chain.
JD Wetherspoon has been in secret talks with the council after eyeing the town centre building for its second Angus outlet.
The businessman behind the new bid said it was a “genuine offer” which had been made after discovering the prominent town centre property had not been placed on the open market.
He instructed solicitors to make the offer, for an undisclosed sum, and that was lodged with Angus Council at the end of last week.
“I did not think that it was right that this was not to be sold on the open market. This is a genuine offer. I have a plan for the building,” said the businessman, who wishes to remain anonymous.
“The offer went in at 4.45pm on Friday, the council have since put a number of questions to my lawyer and those have been answered.”
The council declined to make any comment on the latest development.
Last Tuesday, a private meeting of the full Angus Council voted to forge ahead with negotiations over the sale of 5-7 the Cross, which houses members’ services offices and that of the provost of Angus.
JD Wetherspoon said “nothing firm” had been agreed between the company and Angus Council.
Following the decision of the meeting, a spokesman for Angus Council confirmed the move to proceed with the talks and said the sale of the building would be subject to planning permission and licensing.
The latest twist has shades of the debacle which surrounded the sale of the council’s former St James House HQ in Forfar which is now home to the town’s Asda store.
Almost a decade ago, officials advised councillors to accept an offer of £700,000 from a brace of developers for the one-time offices of town textile firm Don & Low for which the authority paid £1 million.
Following protests from opposition councillors, property chiefs then recommended a U-turn which put the site on open market sale.
The authority eventually received 10 bids and netted £1.8m from the sale of the St James site from the same bidder which had been set to secure it for more than £1m less under the proposed private deal.