Council chiefs in Aberdeen are expecting strong interest following a decision to put surplus land that could fetch several million pounds on the open market.
The local authority intends to sell off the area, understood to be about 10 acres, which has been left over at the site of a planned new secondary school for the south of the city at Bobby Calder Park, Cove.
It is expected to attract interest from a number of companies, with oil services giant Balmoral Group understood to be among those monitoring the situation.
The land was at the centre of a previous dispute between Aberdeen Football Club (AFC) and the city council’s Labour-led administration.
Pittodrie chairman Stewart Milne said in 2012 that the local authority had “killed off” plans for a new stadium at Loirston by blocking a connected proposal for a joint training facility for the Dons and Cove Rangers at Calder Park.
At a full council meeting in August that year, members voted by 24-19 to take control of the area that had previously been leased to Cove Rangers.
A spokesman for AFC would not comment yesterday, but Mr Milne told the Press and Journal in November last year the club’s planned new training facilities “would not be at Calder Park” and the club was looking elsewhere.
At a meeting earlier this week, the council’s property sub-committee agreed to continue talks with Cove Rangers about the site and put the surplus land from the school development up for sale.
Labour finance convener Willie Young said: “I would hope there would be a lot of interest in the site.
“The most important thing for the council is to get best value for the taxpayer.
“That does not always mean the highest monetary value, but we want to maximise the amount that we can get back for the city and the local community.”
The planned new secondary school at Cove would replace Torry and Kincorth academies.
The £30million facility, which still requires formal planning approval, is scheduled to open in time for the 2016/17 session.
There is also a significant amount of housing planned for the area.
The council’s adopted local development plan includes the provision for 1,500 houses, 27 acres of employment land and a gypsy-traveller site at Loirston.