Dundee City Council wants more money for the old Eastern Primary school building in Broughty Ferry.
The category A listed building closed its doors to pupils last year after classes moved to the former Grove Academy site on Claypotts Road.
The council had hoped to find a firm willingness to redevelop the site without major changes to the existing structure, but Ferry councillor Derek Scott revealed that no suitable bids have been received.
”It was marketed, they put out 400 sales particulars to interested parties, but the bids that were received were below expectation,” he said.
”Apparently the ones which were submitted were purely financial, with no indication of what development programme they had in mind.”
The former school was built in 1911, and its listed status means the exterior cannot be changed and only minor alterations will be permitted inside.
The council advised that the building could be converted to flats which make ”sympathetic” use of the existing architecture, but no developers have yet come forward with such plans.
Mr Scott said choosing the right bid to secure the future of the building is as important as financial considerations.
”The bids were below expectation financially the final cost of relocating Eastern Primary was just over £2 million, so I think they’ll be looking for a healthy capital receipt,” he said.
”But it’s also about the quality of the development it’s an A listed building in a prime site, so it has to be a good development.”
Nick Day (65), who lives on Whinnybrae opposite the school site, said the lack of progress is ”disappointing”.
”Everyone in the street is a bit concerned that it’s going to deteriorate over time,” he said. ”It’s a very fine building and in better times it probably could be converted to housing but the market is completely flat for that kind of thing.
”I’m very supportive of the council promoting it for housing having made the decision, but I think it’s going to take a long time.”
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said: ”A site planning brief has been agreed for the site of the former Eastern Primary School. The council is now actively marketing it for future uses, and any updates would be reported to the city development committee in due course.”