McAlpine and Stewart Milne Construction chase £50m Aberdeen redevelopment deal

Only two firms have taken the plunge for a £50m redevelopment deal in the heart of Aberdeen.

Sir Robert McAlpine and locally-based Stewart Milne Construction are in the hunt for the revamp of the Marischal College site into a new 19,000m² office complex.

The winner of the design-and-build single-stage contest is expected to emerge by the end of May after the recommendation of the contractor to carry out the work is verified by the city council, which is promoting the scheme.

Construction work on site is expected to kick off towards the end of June, with completion due by the close of 2010 or early in 2011.

A source close to the project said: "This is a difficult job - it's not like tackling a new development on a greenfield site.

"The guts of the Marischal College building have to be ripped out, while the new construction works take place behind the facade of the Grade A listed structure."

He continued: "All this could initially explain why only two contractors showed real interest in the project when it first came up for grabs - but that was before the recession kicked in.

"At that time, firms could afford to be choosy. But if the job surfaced now, the betting is that many more contractors would go for it, despite the challenge it presents."