Plans have been unveiled for a £50m residential regeneration of the former Postings Shopping Centre in Kirkcaldy.
Tahir Ali, director of property development firm Evergold, bought the three-acre site from Columbia Threadneedle three years ago for £320,000.
He is now proposing to demolish the derelict shopping centre, which has been vandalised over recent months.
To enable this, Ali has had to acquire many other properties along the high street over the past two years, including the Bank of Scotland, New Look and former Debenhams buildings.
Whilst the Debenhams store was revamped and temporarily re-opened as Fife Department Store a year ago, this unit will be closed on 30 October, to allow the demolition works to proceed. All remaining stock will be donated to local charity the Cottage Family Centre.
Once the demolition is complete, Ali aims to sell the site to a large developer, with the planned scheme comprising up to 300 flats, interlinked with green walkways and landscaped public spaces.
“No-one could have predicted how radically the world would change within a year of purchasing The Postings Shopping Centre at auction in 2019,” said Ali.
“Even though we had a number of exciting deals in the pipeline with an independent supermarket chain and cinema operation in the former Tesco unit, the pandemic put an abrupt end to those plans - this prompted us to reconsider the site with a fresh approach.
“Covid taught me the need to remain dynamic and flexible with property projects, and that agility, coupled with support from Fife Council and local councillors, has enabled us to radically rethink the proposition. ”
He added: “Coupled with ongoing developments along the Esplanade and Merchants Quarter in Kirkcaldy town centre, our redevelopment in the heart of Kirkcaldy should help attract other investors to progress their own plans for restaurants, more national chains, cinemas, hotels and other potential developments that will help revitalise and regenerate the town centre.”
Ali has been working with Greg Limb, a partner at Ryden, on the regeneration scheme for more than two years.
Ryden has been advising on the best way forward for the project and dealing with interest which has already been expressed in the re-development proposals.
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