And still, there are no takers.

There were no bids at the closing date Monday after the city retendered the mixed-use lots it had for sale on the former Motorways trucking yard facing Second Avenue.

Another four lots were also made available in the most recent tender.

"We're not surprised in this current (economic) climate," Pat Ross, the land development supervisor, said in an interview this morning.

As the city redevelops the waterfront, it is selling off lots in the former Motorways site.

When no bids were received for the first five properties last year, the city changed the zoning to allow for primary uses of the land rather than developers having to bring forward a conditional use application for each development.

Ross said while the planning department has received a number of phone calls about the sites since the retendering, there hasn't been a lot of interest.

Low investor confidence given the unstable economic situation world wide and still being some months away from the next building season may have both contributed to the lack of bids, Ross said.

"It could be the season or the market," he commented.

The situation means the city will move to over-the-counter sales of the lots while also looking at a further marketing strategy for the properties, Ross said.

There's no timeline on when the city could move to more aggressive marketing for the sites. That could possibly involve a realtor and marketing Outside.

As Ross noted, there may be an appetite from city officials to see how over-the-counter sales go first before looking at other ways to sell the lots.

The city may also have the lots appraised again, given the last appraisal was done close to a year ago.

"The market's sort of levelled off," he said.

The lots have been priced at between $290,000 for 754 square metres and $651,000 for 0.169 hectares.