PLANS have been submitted for an expansive development in the heart of Edinburgh’s New Town, with hundreds of homes set to be built.
The site lies near Fettes Row in Stockbridge, and will combine student accommodation, offices, and residential dwellings.
A whopping nine blocks are outlined in plans, with some as many as eight storeys tall.
Developers have also proposed a shared crescent garden, communal lawns, and accessible roof terraces in over 4,000 square metres of public open space.
A number of pre-application meetings were held with the City of Edinburgh Council regarding this significant proposal, with its application validated last week.
The site comprises 315 residential dwellings, of which some would be affordable, as well as 599 student rooms with ground-floor retail space.
Applicants submitted an exhaustive 299 documents, with constructed images of what the finished complex could look like, and forms outlining the potential impacts on townscape character and aesthetic.
With the site located entirely within the New Town Conservation Area, planners acknowledge the “large change” to the view of the area at a local level, but regard this as “generally beneficial”.
They say that the development has been “informed by a detailed understanding of the historic context of the site”, which lies close to the boundary of Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site.
As well as housing, public access routes could also be constructed, connecting buildings to Dundas Street and King George V Park – with “extensive landscaping” planned.
Though there will be 914 housing units, just 166 parking spaces have been planned for the site, as well as 93 electric vehicle charging ports, 25 spaces for motorbikes, and 836 for bikes.
In an attempt to protect wildlife in the area, bat and bird boxes will be installed as well as green roofs and new trees planted.
It is anticipated that construction on the extensive development will commence later this year and will be completed in 2028.
Locals have until 4 July to comment on the application, which has been submitted by Izar V Lux S.A R. L And Fusion Edinburgh Propco Ltd.
