Thirteen bids have been received for the future use of Aberdeen City Council's former headquarters, St Nicholas House.

Local, regional and national property developers have put in offers for mixed-use schemes including hotel, office, retail and restaurant/ café use.

The building housed the local authority until just last year.

But councillors instructed that it be redeveloped to pave the way for the regeneration of the east end of the city centre.

Stage one, completed in early July, required all bidders to submit designs and outline financial proposals.

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The next stage of the process will require shortlisted proposals to submit fully designed and costed plans.

The council did not give away when the shortlist would be decided, saying only that a report on the shortlisted proposals would be considered at the city’s Finance and Resources Committee "in due course".

Council leader Barney Crockett said: "We are very excited to have attracted this amount of interest from property developers with national and international reputations.

"This shows that we in Aberdeen are open for business."

Councillors have asked that any redevelopment be "sympathetic" to old buildings on the site, including Provost Skene's House, one of the oldest buildings in Aberdeen.

All of the proposals received envisage the partial pedestrianisation of Broad Street, with a number of the bids including proposals for significant spend on the public realm.

Meantime, the soft-strip demolition of St Nicholas House has begun. Safedem was appointed to carry out the project, which is scheduled for completion at the end of the year.

(NE)