The warehouse-type stores that struggled to make a living in the waterfront development, have been replaced by a wide range of businesses to give the area a “high street” feel.

Instead of under-performing factory outlets, City Quay is now home to the Chamber of Commerce, accountants, architects, a dentist, physiotherapist and the type of shops you might find on any busy street. Even letting agents Ryden, employed by City Quay’s owners the Scottish Capital Group, to find tenants, were so impressed that they moved in too. Another Dundee based company to make City Quay its home is building firm West Residential, while others yet to take up residence include Business Gateway and stockbrokers Bell Lawrie White.

Scottish Capital Group director William Bannister said City Quay was a “struggling factory outlet development” when they took over about two years ago. Since then, they have spent well over £1 million upgrading the development and are talking to potential tenants of the last few vacant units.

He said:

“We looked at the area and could see the exciting potential. After talking with the planning authority, the idea of having a local centre for that part of Dundee developed.
Although predominantly office accommodation, it’s a mixed use scheme. We have all the essentials that a local community hub needs. Over the last year we’ve worked to change the concept. The more people see it, the more they want to come. We’ve had significant success and City quay is performing very well. Ryden loved it so much that they moved in as well. They’re a walking advert for the place!”

The company that started the snowball effect was accountancy firm EQ. Managing partner David Cameron admitted they took a chance as anchor tenant for the new commercial concept, but the success of both their move and the development has come as a pleasant surprise.

He said:

“We were looking for a place we could design just for ourselves. The availability of modern office accommodation in Dundee isn’t great and we didn’t want to move out of the centre to the technology park. We took the decision 15 months ago when it required a bit of imagination to visualise how the profile of the place might change. We were the pioneers ready to go down there and encourage others to follow us. We have a fantastic corner site looking out towards the Apex Hotel and south across to Fife. It’s more than exceeded our expectations. Our staff loved it from day one. Our business had grown 15% in 12 months. With companies like AW Chase De Vere already there and Bell Lawrie White still to come, City Quay is turning into the financial centre of the city.”

Old dock sheds east of City Quay are also undergoing a transformation into modern office accommodation by the Unicorn Property Group, of Dundee. The sheds, numbered 27 to 35, will become nine office units with glass fronted views to the south. The company has also embarked on an ambitious £18 million new-build office development closer to the riverside at City Quay. The largest speculative office development in the city for a generation will provide more than 100.000 square feet of space for almost 1000 employees. The offices are due for completion in about a year.