22nd August 2007
iQ Agree £8.5 Million Deal For Springside Edinburgh
First residential phase approvedThe development team behind Edinburgh's Springside has announced the first significant deal in the £200 million transformation of the former Scottish & Newcastle brewery site in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh. Grosvenor, AMA and the Royal Bank of Scotland have agreed an £8.5 million deal with iQ Property Partnership, a 50/50 joint venture with Quintain Estates and Development Ltd and Wellcome Trust, who together with their developer Keyhaven, will build a 314-room student residence on the eight-acre S&N bottling and distribution plant.
Work is now underway on the seven-storey student residence, with completion expected for September 2008.
Meanwhile, the City of Edinburgh Council has approved the first residential phase of Springside.
In the first detailed planning application approved by the local authority, 219 flats will be constructed to the east of the site.
The flats, a broad mix of one, two and three bedroom homes with building materials echoing the rich industrial heritage of the site, will be complemented by central courtyards. Twenty affordable flats managed by the Dunedin Canmore Housing Association and the Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh, will also be built on the east of the site. The homebuilding will reflect a contemporary interpretation of Edinburgh's much-loved traditional tenements. The city's traditional streetscape will be reinstated, with existing streets sympathetically extended to create a vibrant new city neighbourhood linking Bruntsfield and Viewforth in the south with the strategically important transport hub of Haymarket to the north.
A £9 million 650-space underground car park - one of the largest subterranean spaces of its kind in Edinburgh - is included as part of the approved first phase.
John Irvine, director of Grosvenor, said: "Quintain represents a good deal for Springside and reflects the confidence in the ongoing regeneration of Fountainbridge and its prospects for the future.
"Quintain has a proven track record in city centre developments of this kind and is committed to providing student accommodation of the highest quality through its involvement in the iQ Fund." He added: "The approval of the residential planning application marks an important milestone in our vision to create a new neighbourhood in Scotland's Capital. The first homes will set the standard for the wider re-development of the Fountainbridge area. "The new homes will not only respect Fountainbridge's rich heritage, but will be of the highest quality and create a sense of place and character worthy of their unique location."
Dr Ali Afshar, director of AMA, added: "This marks a major step forward for one of the most significant urban re-generation projects in Edinburgh for more than half a century. "The development will provide new homes for hundreds of residents, herald a new chapter in the history of Fountainbridge and provide a fitting gateway to the city centre from the west."
A spokesman for iQ said: "We believe that this will be an excellent location for students studying in the city, and we are pleased to be part of Springside." The eight-acre Springside quarter will provide a mixed-use development of 650 new homes and 140,000 sq ft of high quality space for some 2,500 new jobs. It represents one of the largest city centre regeneration projects seen in the Capital during the past 50 years Springside's first development phase, which incorporates a public park, central courtyards and two new tree-lined avenues linking Fountainbridge and the West Approach Road, was approved by the City of Edinburgh Council earlier this year. The redevelopment of the brewery site follows the masterplan approved by the City of Edinburgh Council, and reflects guidelines set out by the Council's own development brief for the area.
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