Redevelopment of 140 Causewayside EH9 1PR

[Grange PlanningKeymaster]

The building that currently houses the Scottish Law Commission (SLC) at 140 Causewayside is being marketed as a development opportunity.  This brochure describes the potential and includes this video of the site.  The site is to the north of the Tesco Express, on the west side of the street.

 

The brochure states that SLC will remain in occupation until Summer 2023 and notes:

 

“This site is not allocated for any specific use within Edinburgh’s Local Development Plan and it is likely to be suitable for Residential use, Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA)
or Build to Rent (BTR) and planning permission will be required. Any proposed development scheme should be respectful of the location setting, the character and appearance of the
adjacent Conservation Area and the scale of buildings in the surrounding area”

 

Although the properties to the north and west of the site lie within the Grange Conservation Area, the site itself is not in any conservation area and so permission would not be required for demolition of the buildings.  Planning permission will be required for any redevelopment of the site.  The brochure notes:

 

“Avison Young’s planning team have engaged with City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) on an informal pre-application basis to review potential redevelopment potential for the site. [….] in summary, the following development would [be likely to be] supported by the CEC’s Planning Department:

Purpose Built Student Accommodation:
131 beds in a mix of studio (71 beds) and cluster apartments (60 beds).

Residential development for private sale:
32 apartments in a mix of one, two and three-bedroom flats.

Residential development for Built to Rent.

Scale:
New five storey building”

[Grange PlanningKeymaster]

Update – 23 May 2023

The site at 140 Causewayside has been acquired by Balfour Beatty Investments (BBI).  It proposes to develop purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) on the site. It has submitted a Proposal of Application Notice (PAN – 23/02186/PAN) to the Council, notifying its intention to submit a full planning application.

For such major developments, the developer is obliged to submit a PAN and to undertake a consultation with the local community and to include, in its subsequent planning application, the outcome of that consultation and any features of the application which have been included to address the matters raised by consultees.  A full planning application cannot be submitted until at least 12 weeks after such a consultation has started.  Residents will still be able to comment to the Council on the planning application in the normal way, notwithstanding the earlier consultation by the developer.

The agent for BBI has written to the Community Councils and the Grange Association, inviting us to meet them to learn more about the proposals.  In its correspondence, it writes:

“The site is a suitable location for PBSA in terms of access to higher education facilities, active travel and public transport services. It also falls below the 0.25-hectare area and there is therefore no provision required for residential development.

A mix of student and cluster flats are proposed.

This development will serve to address an increasing student demand in the capital, ensuring that they are occupying PBSA rather than other homes in the city more appropriate for families.”

At this stage, the applicants’ plans are not known to us, beyond the description “Demolition of existing building and development of purpose-built student accommodation with landscaping, infrastructure, access and associated works“.  We do not know how many accommodation units are proposed, nor how many floors the new building would comprise.  We have only the indications from the marketing agent in the post above in 2022 (“131 beds in a mix of studio (71 beds) and cluster apartments (60 beds)”).

There will be two public consultation events, with both exhibitions held at Mayfield Salisbury Church (West Mayfield EH9 1TQ), from 4pm – 7.30 pm on:

• Thurs 15 June 2023; and
• Thurs 27 July 2023.

The agents have created a project website which will host digital copies of the exhibition materials. This is not yet active but should be live by 15 June.

[sl318aParticipant]

Yawn … surely … surely we will get to “peak student accommodation” ?

If only it meant more flats for families available in, say, Marchmont.

If only the affordable housing they always promise actually happened.

[Grange PlanningKeymaster]

The developers’ agents have issued this flyer promoting the first consultation event, which will be between 4pm – 7.30pm on Thursday 15 June, at Mayfield Salisbury Church.

The project website is now live with general background information. The agents have committed that “Exhibition material detailing the proposed development will also be uploaded on this website on the day of the event.”

[Grange PlanningKeymaster]

The second public consultation event is on Thursday 27 July at Mayfield Salisbury Church (West Mayfield EH9 1TQ), from 4pm – 7.30 pm.

The project website will host digital copies of the exhibition materials from 9am that day, with updates from the first event, and the agents have issued this flyer to advertise the second event.

[Grange PlanningKeymaster]

The full planning application for the site redevelopment is now available for comment on the Council’s planning portal as 23/07375/FUL. The documents include this ‘visualisations package‘ which includes this view of the existing street view from the corner with Grange Road:

It also includes these visualisations of the proposed development:

The proposals incorporate beds for 174 students, significantly more than the 131 initially indicated in the earlier posts in this thread.

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