NEW CGI images have been released showing the housing-led redevelopment of one of Edinburgh city centre’s largest potential development sites.
Regeneration specialist Artisan Real Estate, together with fund manager REInvest Asset Management S.A., has unveiled plans to redevelop the former Deutsche Bank House at 525 Ferry Road. The office and data-processing centre was formerly the Scottish base for State Street Bank until the building was vacated in 2018.
Developers are now lodging a planning application with the City of Edinburgh Council to transform the vacant site, rebranded as ‘525 Park View’, into a residential neighbourhood providing 256 sustainable homes, 25% of which will be for affordable housing. Commercial space also provides the potential for cafes, shops and shared workspaces.
More than two thirds of the development area will be made up of ‘high-quality’ green spaces – including a central communal garden, biodiverse green roofs and a ‘wetland’ area. Smart technology such as individual air source heat pumps for each home also means no fossil fuels will be used.
The planning submission follows a 14-month consultation programme, with the developers and Edinburgh-based 7N Architects working with local community and wider city interests to ensure ‘maximum benefit’ for both the local area and Edinburgh as a whole.
Artisan Real Estate’s regional director for Scotland, David Westwater, said, “This is a hugely exciting opportunity to breathe new life into an underused building, whilst ensuring its long-term future by bringing a new sustainable community to an accessible city centre location. Following the consultation feedback, we have worked hard to make this development not just the right fit for the site but also an integral part of the wider city centre area.
“We have reduced the heights of the building from nine to seven storeys and ensured the overall architectural design and materials respect local and historical contexts. We are also fully aware that we have the responsibility to ensure that our developments exceed all current environmental standards, setting new benchmarks for smart, sustainable living whilst providing a high quality of internal and external space.
“Our proposals have been guided by low-carbon design and encompass a mix of apartment sizes and layouts, led mainly by residential as well as much-needed affordable housing and other complementary commercial uses.”
Development partner REInvest Asset Management S.A. was founded in Luxembourg as a specialist for future-facing investment ideas and currently manages and develops properties across Europe with a value in excess of EUR 2.3 billion. 525 Park View is held in a progressive property fund within a pan-European portfolio managed on behalf of a German insurance group.
Thomas Merkes, head of asset management at REInvest Asset Management S.A., added, “Our joint venture partnership with Artisan represents a major step forward in providing an innovative and collaborative mixed-use development solution to unlock the potential for this significant city centre site, which is set to create a genuinely transformational development in an accessible city centre location. Our planning submission for this complex site demonstrates how we can make a positive contribution to the local area, bringing investment, life and excitement back to this important part of the capital.”
