Polly Shoes shop being repurposed for 'world-class' arrival

The Brisbane Street corner site had only housed pop-up shops in the past few years before selling to a new owner in June 2023.

Workers have recently started repainting the exterior, and pending approvals, work will soon begin on what Shepherd and Heap's Blake Shepherd described as a "world-class fit-out".

Popular Devonport dentist Dr Stephen Pohan confirmed he would be setting up Ivory Orthodontics from the site.

"We love the building, we're going to make it modern on the inside and do up the heritage look on the outside," he said.

"Everyone who's been involved in the project so far has had some sort of relationship with Polly Shoes which is great.

"It's amazing the legacy [it has]. We're trying to think of some way to drag the legacy along with us - stay tuned."

Dr Pohan expects it will take about three months to transform the site for its new use.

In the meantime, he will run his business from a temporary site in Prospect.

Dr Pohan said he had looked at buying the building when it hit the market a year ago, but it never came to be.

When he saw it up for lease, he revisited his plans.

"There's a short supply of [orthodontist clinics] here," the Launceston-based dentist said.

"It's a great location and a beautiful building.

"What we'll put in downstairs in our practice will be very much a day spa sort of feel - very modern mixed with the heritage."

The three-level property is owned by a local buyer who planned to convert the upper levels into high-calibre apartments.

The ground floor section of the building was most recently advertised as three smaller tenancies, but will be fully occupied by Ivory Orthodontics.

Mr Shepherd said the Polly site had attracted huge interest, and that Dr Pohan's clinic would be a "nice use for the corner".

"We had significant interest along the way," he said.

"We had three or four lease proposals, but the uses didn't resonate with our client's direction for the building.

"We see this allied health use as a very suitable use."