The lease at 29 The Octagon, which formerly housed Nova Cafe, is now home to a new tenant — but the council is remaining tight-lipped about who it is.
A Dunedin City Council spokesman confirmed it had secured a ‘‘suitable operator’’ to lease the site.
‘‘Staff at the DCC worked hard to find an operator that could meet the range of services required at the site.
‘‘Staff are pleased that their efforts have paid off.’’
The council owns the site, which is shared with the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
Cr Sophie Barker, who has a background in business and tourism, said she hoped the site would be open this month.
It was ‘‘absolutely vital’’ for the council to have the site filled, as it created a vibrancy and hum right next to the art gallery and for its quarter of the Octagon.
‘‘I’m expecting that people will be very excited for a high-quality, highly appreciated operator to be moving in.’’
The Octagon cafe closed in mid-March last year after the owners made the ‘‘incredibly difficult’’ decision not to renew their lease after operating the business through Covid-19 lockdowns and border closures.
Owners Mark and Nick Fraser operated the cafe for five years, taking over from their father Howard, who held the lease from April 2003 until 2018.
In June this year, a report presented to the council’s community services committee said visits to the art gallery had fallen from 164,068 in July to April in 2022-23 to 146,068 for the same period in 2023-24.
Art gallery director Cam McCracken said at the time nothing stood out as being a cause for the lower visiting rate, other than the cafe’s closure.
Cr Barker said she expected visits to the art gallery would pick up, once the new site opened.
