| Centre owners Lend Lease and Dundee City Council say they are still working closely together to drive forward the planned extension, although so far there has been no indication of when work will start.
Despite the continuing recession and a slump in the retail trade, both parties said they are committed to the £50 million development.
The city council has the job of purchasing surrounding tracts of land to facilitate the extension, and Lend Lease is talking to retailers with a view to finding tenants for the additional shop units that will be created.
Building projects all over the UK, residential and commercial, have been put on hold or scrapped amid fears that houses will be unsold and shop units unlet.
The construction industry has been one of the biggest casualties of the credit crunch, but it has also bitten into the retail industry, with high street names including Woolworths and Zavvi either closing or going into administration towards the end of last year.
The Overgate extension will increase the size of the centre by just over half — the equivalent of another two Debenhams stores — and requires a leap of faith by the developers, who will have to find tenants for the many new shop units.
However, Lend Lease is pressing ahead despite acknowledging the difficult market conditions.
The company and the council have already entered into a legal agreement which allows the development of land adjoining the existing Overgate shopping centre for the proposed 215,000 sq ft extension.
Overgate general manager Karen Stewart said, “Lend Lease is working closely with Dundee City Council to progress the proposed extension.
“In this challenging market we will continue to work with our investors, retailers and other partners to enhance Overgate and realise the potential that Dundee has to offer as a premier retail destination in Scotland in years to come.”
A city council spokes-man added, “The city council is continuing its work to support the creation of an extension to the Overgate, and we are keeping in close contact with Lend Lease over these matters.”
Lend Lease has already received the go-ahead from the Scottish Government for the extension.
If it proceeds in the form originally proposed by Lend Lease, the extension would see 40 new shops, a food hall, an extension to two existing retail units and an extra 330 parking spaces.
The development would create 400 construction job during a two-year building period, and 500-600 long-term jobs. |
