City’s shopping centre bought for £1.4 million after an online auction

Dundee’s Wellgate Shopping centre has been sold for £1.4 million after an online auction. Bids for the building, which opened in 1978, started at £500,000 with the Acuitus auction lasting just under 20 minutes.

It is not yet known what the unnamed new owner plans to do with the building.

Before beginning, auctioneer Richard Auterac described it as a “huge opportunity” and said many of those registering an interest had the skills and financial muscle to take on the management of the centre.

The seller was not disclosed but Mr Auterac referred to them as a “major fund manager”.

The centre’s listing stated it “may benefit from future redevelopment for a variety of uses” which has sparked hopes it could be transformed by a new owner.

The Wellgate’s future has long been in question after a revamp of the Overgate Shopping Centre saw it become by far the most popular destination for city shoppers.

The centre, which includes popular businesses JD Gyms, Burger King, Home Bargains, and B&M, contains a total of 76 retail units as well as a 583-space multi-storey car park.

It was given a major £26m transformation in the mid-1990s.

The drab and gloomy interior was opened up and brightened by a new skylight roof while there were big upgrades to some of the shop units.

However, it has struggled to attract retailers in recent years and has also suffered a number of setbacks, with several major big names either closing their Wellgate branches or going out of business entirely.

One major blow in particular was the loss of the anchor BHS store in 2016.

TJ Hughes, which took over the former BHS unit in 2018, did not reopen after lockdown restrictions were eased last year.

There were plans in 2013 to create a new eight-screen cinema by Light Cinemas that raised hopes of a new era but the deal collapsed.

However, there are hopes now that the cinema project could be reignited with John Sullivan, director at Light Cinemas, stating recently that the firm “have not lost interest” in the Wellgate and would be “very enthusiastic to talk to whoever buys the centre”.

He added: “We really believe that a family orientated cinema in the centre of Dundee would be very desirable for the people of the city.

“We have not lost interest in the site, so I’m looking forward to talking to any new owner of the Wellgate to discuss how we could participate in a leisure orientated scheme. We thought Dundee had huge potential and we’ve been proved right. It was over seven years ago we were doing the Wellgate and over the last seven years it’s just kept on getting stronger and stronger and we saw that coming.”

Prior to the auction, Mhairi Archibald, of auctioneer Acuitus, said the site could be the “perfect Christmas gift” for investors, adding: “Opportunities to buy a prime retail centre in a Scottish city are few and far between.

“The much-loved Wellgate centre is one of two main shopping centres in Dundee and is ideally located in the prime retail pitch on the north side of Panmure Street at its junction with Murraygate.

“It’s the perfect Christmas gift for an investor ahead of the busy January sales period.”

‘HUGE OPPORTUNITY’: It is not yet known what the unnamed new owner plans to do with Dundee’s Wellgate. Picture by Steve Macdougall.