Old mill would make ‘exciting’ project

Dumfries Historic Buildings Trust (DHBT) had said if no developer came forward they would be keen to lead the project themselves.
Organisation chairman Luke Moloney said: “DHBT is keen to promote and encourage a sensitive restoration of this very special building along the Nith river front.
“Given the derelict state of the building, through decades of neglect, and its sheer scale, however, this is not a project for the faint-hearted.”
The large two-storey Venetian-style brick and red sandstone building was built in 1886. Despite an attempt by a Kilmarnock developer to buy the mill in 2007 and convert it into flats, the building currently sits on the register run by Buildings at Risk Scoltand.
The 40,000 square feet site was up for auction in Glasgow on Wednesday evening with a guide price of £95,000, described as a ‘rare opportunity’ for development.
Speaking ahead of the auction, Mr Moloney had said: “If no sympathetic developer steps forward, DHBT is keen to lead a project to restore this building and to bring it back to use in a way that will render it a delightful and exciting, and well-used, asset for the town of Dumfries.”
He added: “Options for the building’s re-use would need to be explored rigorously; but it is clear to us that there is an opportunity here to develop a project that brings a variety of exciting and creative uses to this building, and to make much more of this Venetian ‘palazzo’ on our own River Nith.”
Ahead of the auction at Glasgow Raddison Hotel, a Future Property Auctions spokeswoman said: “It will definitely sell. There’s a lot of interest in it.”
Mr Moloney was at the auction, with the trust prepared to make a ‘modest’ offer but hoping to speak with owners if it went unsold.
Yesterday he said: “Rosefield Mills did not sell at the auction last night.
“There were no identifiable bidders, and no-one was prepared to bid anywhere near the guide price, and it was left unsold.”