Wheatley Homes has submitted a tender for 108 mid-market rent homes in a massive New Town development.
The residences will join 207 private flats and 591 student beds on the site of a former Royal Bank of Scotland building off Dundas Street.
The contract tender puts the value of the homes at £30m, which it describes as the ‘affordable housing component’ of the development.
Branded the ‘New Town Quarter’, the project will use the land freed up by the demolition of the RBS building in 2022, after it sat empty for four years.
Ideas for what to do with the site have fluctuated over the years, but the current proposal – backed by Ediston Real Estate – has been approved by the council.
It will include a mixed-use element, and the project will also introduce new trees and put investments towards George V Park.
The site is bounded by Dundas Street to the west, Eyre Place to the north, Fettes Row and Royal Crescent to the south and George V Park to the east.
Ediston’s proposal has not been without controversy, with around 400 residents submitting objections to the firm’s planning application for the development.
Common concerns included strain on local GP practices and the scale of the development being out of line with the surrounding community.
Edinburgh Live spoke to a number of local residents late last year to get their views on the project, in advance of a hearing which gave the site planning permission.
Some local residents – while not objecting to the concept of student housing – felt that the site was not the right location for new student digs.
Others felt concerns over the scale of the student flat element of the project, with worries over what might happen if student numbers in the city were to fall.
New-build student housing is often built to different standards than private residential flats, and converting purpose-built student flats to other uses can be difficult.
Worries were also raised about whether the amount of parking in the plans was enough, and if it would have an impact on available parking on nearby streets.
The contract tender says the 108 mid-market rent units would all be contained within one block.
It also describes the redevelopment of the site as “one of the city’s most significant brownfield regeneration opportunities”.
Mid-market units are targeted at households on low to middle incomes who don’t qualify for, or are not a priority for social rented accommodation, but who can’t afford to rent privately.
Rents are usually higher than in council or social rented accommodation, but lower than in private sector rentals.
Renderings submitted by the developers show a number of sleek, angular buildings being built on the site.
They also show balconies on some of the flats, and green spaces built as part of the development on and around buildings.
By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter
