More than 100 affordable homes planned for derelict Dundee site

The B-listed former jute mill sits on Brook Street and Douglas Street within the Blackness Conservation Area and has long featured on the Buildings at Risk Register.

Cullross is proposing 102 homes on the site, estimated to cost more than £20 million, made up of one and two-bedroom flats, one to three-bedroom “colony units,” and three to four-bedroom houses. The development will use off-site constructed modular pods fastened together on site to speed up the build, while stone and iron salvaged from the original structure will be worked into the new buildings to preserve a link to the site’s industrial past.

The mill’s history stretches back to 1828-1834, when it was built as a flax mill before later switching to jute production. It took the name Queen Victoria Works in 1887, when owners James and Charles Lyell chose it to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. By the time it closed in 1990, it held the distinction of being the world’s oldest operating jute mill.

The site has a troubled recent history of stalled redevelopment attempts. A 2013 council report recommended turning the derelict buildings into flats and offices, a brief that councillors approved later that year following public consultation, but no development followed. Plans resurfaced in 2017 to demolish the mill and replace it with student accommodation, though these also came to nothing.

In July 2022, a major fire tore through the site, with firefighters taking nine hours to bring it under control; six appliances and two height appliances were deployed at the blaze’s peak, smoke was visible across the city, and nearby residents were warned of disruption to their water supply as crews tackled the flames.

Cullross intends to submit a full planning application in November. Ahead of that, the developer is holding a second public consultation event at the Hampton by Hilton in Dundee city centre, on Tuesday 23 June, running from 2.30pm to 6.30pm, where members of the project team will be on hand alongside exhibition boards for people to view and comment on.