A new operator is set to take over a long-vacant city-centre unit after receiving the first enhanced award from the Union Street Empty Shops Scheme.

Following a review panel meeting on 6 July, Mezzo Aberdeen Ltd, led by local restaurateur Kevin Dalgleish, has been granted £70K to transform the former Chopstix premises at 155 Union Street into a deli, wine bar and restaurant.

The project is forecast to create up to 23 jobs, deliver seven-day activity from daytime into the evening, and contribute to the wider regeneration of the upper end of Union Street Central as it reopens.

Councillor Alex McLellan, Convener of the Finance and Resources Committee, said: "I am delighted Aberdeen City Council has awarded the first application for the enhanced Empty Shops Grant. This additional funding will support more businesses occupy vacant units, create new job opportunities and support the continued regeneration of our city centre."

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Kevin Dalgleish, owner of Mezzo Aberdeen Ltd said: "Thanks to the Trinity Centre and Aberdeen City Council, a unit that had been lying empty is reopening with one of the most spectacular views in Aberdeen — over the refurbished gardens and along Union Street. We're proud to be the first through the door on this."

An additional £500,000 has been added to the existing £1 million fund, enabling a higher-level award for eligible premises to help bring larger and long-term empty city-centre units back into use.

Launched in 2023, the Union Street Empty Shops Grant Scheme offers up to 50% of project costs for eligible internal works to vacant shops on Union Street, helping new businesses and tenants to get established. To date, it has supported 23 applications.

The scheme's core aims are to:

- Cut the number of empty units on Union Street by supporting eligible internal reconfiguration for new uses, including retail, cultural, hospitality or office space.

- Leverage private investment to return vacant premises to productive use.

- Support start-ups and entrepreneurs, creating employment by enabling suitable premises on Union Street.

- Through the enhanced award, encourage occupation of large or long-term empty units on Union Street and across the city centre where higher initial costs are a barrier to entry.

The enhanced award will run as a pilot in 2026/27 for units larger than 3,000 sq ft, or those unoccupied for more than three years, where increased renovation costs and alignment with the scheme's strategy can be demonstrated.