RBS and Ediston Plan $60M Mixed-Use Residential Project in Edinburgh
RBS has partnered with Ediston Real Estate for the conversion of the former fruit market site at Chesser Avenue in Edinburgh into a major residential and retail development.
By Adriana Pop, Associate Editor
Edinburgh, UK—RBS has partnered with Ediston Real Estate for the conversion of the former fruit market site at Chesser Avenue in Edinburgh into a major residential and retail development.
Construction on the nearly $60 million (£38 million) project is scheduled to begin this month. Plans for the 8.5 acre site call for 114 new residential units and a 58,500-square-foot retail component dubbed Edinburgh West Retail Park.
BP Pension Fund has agreed to forward fund and subsequently acquire the retail portion of the project. Upon completion, the Edinburgh West shopping venue will feature five retail units, three kiosks, ranging from approximately 16, 900 square feet to 1,000 square feet and 285 parking spaces. Three of the new retail units have already been pre-leased by Marks & Spencer, Home Bargains and Aldi, while Costa Coffee has agreed to occupy one of the kiosks.
RBS has also obtained planning permission for the construction of the 114-unit residential scheme which it sold to Chesser Developments, a company led by New City Vision owner Harry O’Donnell. Through funding secured by the Scottish Futures Trust, this component of the project will produce 80 affordable one-, two- and three-bedroom rental apartments. It will also bring a mix of 34 two-, three- and four-bedroom semi-detached and terraced homes which will be available for private sale.
The new development is expected to create a significant number of construction jobs, as well as permanent jobs within the upcoming retail complex.
“These agreements mark a successful conclusion to RBS’s involvement in this project and effectively allow us to bring this prominently situated brown-field site in Edinburgh back to life,” James Rowney, head of Real Estate Asset Management (GB) at RBS said in. “We are particularly pleased that, working with our partners Ediston, we have been able to bring 114 much needed new homes to the area, 70 percent which are affordable units for rent, and that these will sit alongside a largely pre-let retail park which will deliver employment opportunities to the local community.”
Photo credits: Ediston Real Estate
