Victorian Market sees record numbers but still has three vacant premises inside losing £34k a year
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An update on the Victorian Market food hall has shown that three units cannot be let due to “issues around increasing the electricity supply” and that equates to more than £34,000 a year in lost revenue to the Inverness Common Good Fund.
The new information appeared in an update to the Victorian Market Food Hall which is due to be considered by the Inverness and area committee on Monday.
Units one, two and six are all still vacant despite Highland Council recently claiming that the food hall area was completely let – but now it says there remains an area totalling 74 square metres of space.
Another new detail to emerge is that the food hall once costs of fitting out the units are included equates to an investment of £2.3 million by the Inverness Common Good Fund – previously it was thought to be £1.9 million.
David Haas, the senior community development officer and Kenneth Forbes the property manager explained that “due to a lack of electrical supply/capacity within the Victorian Market, three units remain vacant whilst the energy consumption is monitored.
“The Inverness Common Good Fund is required to cover the service charge contribution for the three vacant units which is approximately £34,200 per annum.
“Resolving the lack of power will be key to enhancing income potential. Investigations are underway as to the options available to enable appropriate use of available mains power and the potential to enhance existing power production from the array of solar panels currently installed on the roof of the Market.
They added: “The Market Manager continues to talk to potential tenants with consideration given to the electric loading. A further report will be provided on progress in due course.”
But in better news, footfall numbers for the food hall show March with just under 140,000 people attending was the venue’s busiest month since October of last year when just over 41,000 people walked through the doors.
The previous highs were almost 120,000 in November and nearly 132,000 in December before a bit of a lull after the festive season in January (94,653) before picking up again in February to over 100,000 again.
The numbers for April are on track to massively increase the number of people coming through the food hall with 41,000 recorded in the first eight days of the month alone – something reflected in the daily average as 5525.
That is about a thousand more people than the previous peak of March indicating demand for the food hall and market in general remains extremely high..
