The man who purchased The Postings Shopping Centre in Kirkcaldy for £320,000 from pension fund Columbia Threadneedle three years ago has revealed his vision for an ambitious £50 million residential regeneration scheme for the strategic three-acre town centre gateway site.

Tahir Ali of, national property development and asset management firm Evergold, plans to demolish the derelict shopping centre, which has been repeatedly ransacked and vandalised over recent months.

Ali has had to acquire many other properties along the High Street over the past two years, through private and often complicated negotiations, to allow for the demolition of the former Postings Shopping Centre.

These have included the Bank of Scotland and the large New Look and former Debenhams buildings. Although the closed former Debenhams store was revamped and temporarily re-opened as Fife Department Store a year ago, this unit will be closed this Sunday to enable the demolition works to begin.

Once the demolition has been completed, the site is set to be sold to a large developer who will redevelop it with a comprehensive residential scheme. This is set to include up to 300 flats interlinked with green walkways, designed to encourage pedestrian movement to and from the High Street and featuring 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,” Ali commented.

“Even though we had a number of exciting deals in the pipeline with an independent supermarket chain and state-of-the-art cinema operation in the former Tesco unit, the Covid pandemic put an abrupt end to those plans. This prompted us to reconsider the site with a fresh approach.”

He added: “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.”

“Coupled with ongoing developments along the picturesque 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 and attract more people back to the area as a place to live, work and play.”

Ali has been working closely with Greg Limb of Ryden on the regeneration scheme for more than two years, with Ryden advising on the best way forward for the project and dealing with interest which has already been expressed in the re-development proposals.