Stockland Halladale Acquire Edinburgh Development Site For £21.25 Million
St Andrew Square is in Edinburgh’s commercial heart, forming part of the city’s prime office core, in addition to being immediately adjacent to Princes Street, one of the UK’s strongest retail destinations. St Andrew Square itself is currently undergoing an extensive landscaping improvement programme and will host one of the new tram system rail halts, both factors that will further emphasise the square’s position as the prime city core.
Formerly the Scottish Provident Head Quarters, No 3-8 comprises some six adjoining buildings forming the majority of the south elevation of the square, providing an extensive high profile frontage. The vendor, ING Real Estate, secured detailed planning and listed building consent for a development of some 92,000 square feet of Grade A office accommodation, including underground parking, with a further 65,000 square feet of retail space over basement, ground and first floors. The scheme also includes a small number of high quality luxury penthouse apartments.
The proposed development will be unique in design, aimed at complementing the historic nature and importance of the Square itself, whilst still addressing the exacting needs of modern commercial and retail occupiers. Stockland Halladale see this as an opportunity to deliver top quality office and retail space within the true city core, in a market where occupiers have traditionally had to compromise on location, moving to the city fringe to meet their occupational needs.
“This is an excellent acquisition for Stockland Halladale which will allow us to demonstrate our development credentials to create a landmark mixed use building in the heart of Edinburgh’s city centre. The historical nature of much of Edinburgh’s city centre and the strong conservation ethos means that development opportunities of this scale are almost unique within the city centre core, and Stockland Halladale are delighted to have secured such an exciting opportunity.” said David Lockhart, Executive Chairman of Stockland Halladale, “Additionally, it further highlights the ability of Stockland Halladale to leverage the strength of the Group’s balance sheet to self-fund acquisitions.”
