Twelve months of preparatory work has started on Edinburgh’s biggest commercial development for more than a decade.
The first stage of the Scottish capital’s £200m Haymarket regeneration involves the reinforcement of the Victorian railway tunnels adjacent to the city’s central station. Part of a car park above the tunnels will be closed for safety reasons with much of the underground work carried out at night to minimise rail disruption.
Above ground preparation work will start next spring with archaeologists moving on to the NCP car park site — approximately one-third of the total development — six weeks earlier. The initial building phase is scheduled for a 2016 completion.
The construction side of the project is estimated to be worth £150m and will be delivered by joint developer Interserve’s Livingston-based construction team, supporting by around 250 directly employed staff and specialist sub-contractors.
“We are looking forward to starting what we believe to be one of the best city centre development schemes to be found anywhere in the UK right now,” said the company’s development director, David Westwater.
“We are looking forward to completing the underground work during 2014, allowing for above-ground construction to start in early 2015,” he added, underlining Interserve’s pledge “to work closely with the local community in the Haymarket area to ensure all construction work is communicated well in advance and any potential disruption kept to a minimum.”
The Haymarket scheme has full planning consent for over 400,000sq ft of office accommodation and a further 60,000sq ft of retail and leisure space. There will also be a 165-bedroom hotel and an underground car park for 320 vehicles. When completed it is expected to create in the region of 3,500 jobs.
Simon Fox, of Tiger Developments, said; “The proposals for a mix of leisure, retail and office space linked by open public spaces will act as a catalyst to regenerate the commercial heart of the area as well as create jobs.
“So far we have received significant commercial interest in the site from a wide range of UK operators, on top of the existing tenants already signed up.”
Tiger acquired the site from Edinburgh City Council in a £40m deal at the height of the property boom. Its original plan for a 17-storey, 192-bedroom hotel, offices and shops next to Haymarket station were granted permission in 2008. That scheme was scaled back after public protests and a threat that Edinburgh would lose its World Heritage status and eventually abandoned during the credit crisis.
The project was revived earlier this year when Interserve and Tiger Developments teamed up to develop the four-acre site. The first phase is being anchored by Tesco and serviced apartment operator Staycity, with the fast food chains Prezzo and Pret A Manger already committed to a second phase occupancy.
“We have been involved with this exciting project since we acquired the site in 2006,” John Nesbitt, managing director of Tiger Developments, explained. “We are now looking forward to bringing it to fruition and to finally give the Haymarket area the high quality development which it so richly deserves.”
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