THE Caledonian Brewery, a listed building on Slateford Road, is set for partial demolition in order for a housing development to be built.
The historic complex is made up of a number of buildings, of which the “less valuable” are set to be removed.
The City of Edinburgh Council will discuss the proposal next week, and it has been recommended that the application be granted.
In place of the brewery, a development of 168 new homes is proposed, 40 of which will be affordable housing.
The Caledonian Brewery, which was founded in 1869, was acquired by Heineken in 2022 and the brewery was subsequently closed.
Now the Caledonian beers, which include Deuchars IPA, are made in the Belhaven Brewery in East Lothian.
An application for the partial demolition of the site and development of residential buildings was submitted to the council at the end of last month.
This proposal received 164 comments, only six of which supported the plans.
If plans go ahead, some of the buildings in the Category B-listed site will be demolished, as well as some more recent additions and grain tanks.
The remaining heritage buildings will be retained, though some industrial features will be removed.
Many of the objections submitted relate to the lack of parking capacity in the area – with some locals calling the proposed provision “ridiculous”.
One says: “Parking around this area has been a huge problem for years.
“Only recently has there been an improvement with permit parking although there can still sometimes be issues finding spaces.
“To add 168 new homes with no provision for parking is irresponsible and will make an already difficult situation even harder for local residents.”
Another reads: “The new residents will struggle to register with a GP. Resources are already stretched.
“The new development needs to be scaled back significantly.”
Documents for the development state: “The site proposes two accessible car parking spaces with EV chargers to the north and middle of the site.
“No other car parking is proposed.”
Despite this, cycle parking for 365 bikes across the site has been proposed, both inside and outside.
The development has been submitted by regeneration specialists Artisan Real Estate.
Their Managing Director for Scotland, David Westwater said: “Artisan is committed to delivering this new, sustainable residential neighbourhood in a complex and historically important city centre site, providing a healthy mix of new homes and affordable housing in line with the Council’s policy to help tackle the city’s housing emergency.
“Building high-quality, sustainable homes in sensitive and unique urban sites such as the brewery site is a lengthy, complex and expensive process – but we are confident that our comprehensive proposals will set new standards for the homes-led regeneration for this historically important city centre site.
“Artisan is committed to delivering high quality urban living for everyone in well-connected central areas bringing interest, investment and life back into the heart of our cities, rather than seeing city centre sites just being delivered for student accommodation and build-to-rent properties.
“Whilst we support a vibrant mix of residential tenures, including student accommodation and build-to-rent, we believe there should be a place for mainstream housing in our city centres too.”
He went on: “Artisan’s expertise as a regeneration specialist is being channelled to deliver proposals that respect, preserve and enhance the rich history of the Caledonian Brewery.
“Working closely with our heritage experts, we have unravelled the different layers of history and development which have governed the evolution of the site.
“This has been a model design approach to a very complex and challenging site bringing together a mix of buildings developed at different stages during the last 150 years.
“From the very start, Artisan placed the preservation of the site’s unique heritage right at the heart of our approach, creating a distinctive footprint which both reflects the brewery’s historical legacy whilst also delivering new homes in an attractive, sustainable and accessible twenty-minute neighbourhood.”
