Councillors will next week be asked to consider two proposals to lease the former Perth City Hall and bring the building back into use.

Following the granting of planning permission to convert the City Hall into a hotel in May last year, and the continued interest expressed by other parties, Perth & Kinross Council agreed to re-market the building for a further six months to allow new applications for a long-term lease of the building to be made.

As a result of the re-marketing two bids were submitted which were found to be compliant with the guidelines outlined in the marketing process. The proposals are to turn the buildings into a food market hall and community hall by Perth Market Place Limited, and a proposal for a hotel from The Seventy Group.

These bids have since been assessed by independent commercial property expert, Jones Lang Lasalle, against the agreed criteria:

The results of this assessment will now be considered by councillors who will discuss the benefits for the city centre of both bids. If either of the proposals are considered suitable then council officers will be instructed to agree lease terms with the preferred bidder for approval at a future council meeting.

Councillor Ian Miller said: “The future of Perth City Hall has been an issue of discussion for a number of years, both locally and nationally. Throughout this time this council has remained true to our conviction that the only viable alternative to a city square was a plan which could be sustained and delivered for the benefit of the city without ongoing support from public funds.

“No matter what the outcome of the discussions next week are, the priority must be to move forward with a solution for the former City Hall which helps to drive forward our vision for a dynamic and modern city centre.”