Dunedin businessman and building co-owner John Farry was reluctant to provide details yesterday but confirmed the 2600sq m building could be turned into spaces for six to eight retail tenants.
No decisions on the configuration of the building or possible tenants had yet been made, he said.
"It could be that we have one larger tenant and other smaller tenants ... Nothing is finalised yet."
It is understood a clothing retailer is one of the tenants expecting to move into the building next month after the interior has been subdivided.
Another likely tenant is understood to be a gym operator.
Negotiations were under way with one tenant, but no lease agreement had been completed, Mr Farry said, adding he would be in a position to say more next week.
The building was empty yesterday and no construction work was taking place.
The site, which has a capital value of $4 million, is owned by Mintaro Holdings. Mr Farry is a 50% shareholder of that company. The other shareholders are Dunedin businessmen Tony and Max Clear.
Smiths City moved out of the building in March 2008. Apart from a small part of the building being leased by the Community Probation Service for a time, it has been vacant since.
Last year, Mintaro Holdings gained resource consent to develop a small supermarket on the site. The company had planned to buy the former Cash Converters building next door, demolish it and create more car parks, but a major backer did not come through with funding and the proposal was canned.
Mr Farry said yesterday he did not believe a new resource consent was required for the latest proposal.
