Anybody want to take this space?

Byline: Sarah Miloudi

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IT SEEMS that everyone likes an underdog - except when it comes to Monopoly.

The city's biggest businesses look set to dominate the most prominent positions in Cardiff's very own version of the iconic board game, which is currently being designed.

But while the castle, Wales Millennium Centre, the Millennium Stadium and the Senedd are all vying to occupy the coveted Mayfair slot, not a single nomination has been received for the bargain basement Old Kent Road plot.

Makers of the renowned game fear that Cardiff could simply be too upmarket to host a pounds 60 site.

Lavish Park Lane costs pounds 350 in terms of Monopoly cash, and has attracted a number of undisclosed financial bids.

Mayfair - its palatial London neighbour - carries a princely price tag of pounds 400, nearly seven times more than the low-end road.

Mark Marriott, commercial director of the game's creator Winning Moves, said that, despite numerous attempts to find the site a tenant, owners of the capital's major businesses and buildings can't be tempted.

"We can't find anyone who wants to be Old Kent Road," he said.

"When we sound people out about it we don't get our calls returned.

"Some people even think that it's a wind-up."

He asked the Echo: "Is Cardiff too posh these days to be associated with a site that costs only pounds 60? "We've filled nearly all of the other spaces on the board and have been oversubscribed many times over."

The winner of the sought-after Mayfair site will be selected at the end of this month, with the second most popular landmark being positioned at Park Lane, which sits nearby in the standard British version of the game.

Other familiar spots set to feature include Sophia Gardens and leading players in the spheres of leisure, heritage, media and the arts.

They will sit among 30 Welsh capital favourites on a multi-coloured board, that will bear the same shape, playing pieces and corner squares - Go to Jail, Pass Go and Free Parking - that have appeared in around 25 UK versions of the 74-year-old invention.

City centre manager Paul Williams urged the capital's businesses to claim a spot in the American-invented game.

He said: "The Monopoly Cardiff edition gives businesses the opportunity to be included in a generational institution and to be permanently remembered by all those who purchase and play this version of the game.

"An initiative like this increases the profile of the city and ultimately, drives tourism and footfall into Wales."

A spokesman for Winning Moves said: "We will put the board to bed in September and are keen to fill the Old Kent Road space."

The capital-inspired game will be released to shops in October.

POSITION STILL UP FOR GRABS

SOME of the city's top landmarks have already been shortlisted for Cardiff's very own version of the iconic board game. But its creators at Hasbro still need to find an occupant for the Old Kent Road site.

To nominate a worthy local contender, e-mail [e-mail] before midnight on Monday, August 24.

More than 30 of the capital's favourite buildings and businesses have already signed up for slots within the unique playing set.

Their positions will not be revealed until the game's official launch in October.