Former Dundee eyesore building to reopen after multi-million-pound facelift

By Gavin Harper

November 28 2022, 5:55am

Westport Property commercial property director, Fergus McDonald and commercial property asset manager Michael Clement outside the newly-refurbished Riverside House. Image: Westport Property.

A former eyesore Dundee building that has been shut for a decade will reopen early in the new year after a multi-million-pound facelift.

Northshore House at Dundee Technology Park has been vacant since call centre firm Sitel left the city.

It once housed 800 workers but had been left to deteriorate, not helped by frequent vandalism attacks.

However, it has been transformed into 12 business units.

The available spaces range from 1,056 sq ft to 2,829 sq ft.

The building was first opened as a BT call centre in the late 1990s and called Riverside House.

How Northshore House looked in 2009 when occupied by Sitel. Image: DC Thomson.

And it has been returned to its original name after the seven-figure investment.

Its Northern Irish owners, North Shore House Ltd, hope the building will provide successful business incubator space.

It would allow young or new businesses to set up and grow, before a potential move on to larger buildings.

They see Dundee as an aspirational and mobile city in which to set up and successfully administer a new business.

The owners have made a significant financial commitment, based in part on Dundee’s recent high profile regeneration success stories, which indicate a bright future for businesses in the city.

Westport Property is marketing the business units.

Booming Dundee business sector

Commercial property director Fergus McDonald said: “The property sub-division has been well conceived, following several months of consultation and market research which we carried out with the owner.

“The building aims to accommodate the start-up and SME business sector, which is booming in Dundee.

Riverside House in Dundee, formerly Northshore House at Dundee Technology Park. Image: Westport Property.

“The uptake of small storage/workshop and business space across the city over the last three years has been exceptional.

“The unique position and image of this is building has led to a positive reaction from the market, with lots of enquiries currently noted.”

Hopes for ‘positive future’

West End councillor Fraser Macpherson said the refurbishment was “very good” news.

He said: “Over a long period, I raised my and residents’ concerns over the deteriorating condition of Northshore House.

“Not only was it in a very poor state of repair with vandalism and graffiti, it sits at a very prominent site at the entrance to the city, with large numbers of motorists passing it every day.

“It will be good to see the building occupied in the near future.

“This refurbishment shows that long occupied buildings can have a positive future.”