City development and regeneration: Edinburgh goes in-house

End of the road for ‘arms-length’ companies EDI and Waterfront Edinburgh

The City of Edinburgh Council is to change current arrangements for city development by providing a new, in-house one stop shop for developers and investors.

A review of existing operational arrangements identified that delivery of required regeneration projects including new housing for the city would be more efficiently delivered through an in-house model. The new in house arrangements will retain the flexibility to work through external companies and joint ventures.

The companies impacted upon are EDI, the Council’s arms-length development company and associated companies Parc Craigmillar and Waterfront Edinburgh Limited.

A transitional period will ensure that it is business as usual for existing projects being operated by the companies involved and where there are contractual arrangements in place for key EDI projects, these will be honoured. The Council will be liaising with staff affected directly. Discussions with existing clients and stakeholders are taking place and a group is being established to ensure the transition takes place smoothly.

Cllr Gavin Barrie, Economy Convener and Chair of EDI Group, said: “The Council has acted decisively to put new plans in place to ensure that the delivery of key developments and regeneration projects can be sustained and accelerated. 

“This decision will allow the Council’s in-house team to focus on its strategic plan to deliver much needed private and affordable housing for Edinburgh, including the delivery of 8,000 new affordable homes in the next decade that has been matched by social landlords in the city.

“I’d like to thank all the staff at EDI and related companies for all their hard work over many years and their continuing commitment that ensures their experience will be built upon in the future.”

Eric Adair, Operations and Finance Director, at EDI said: “EDI has a long track record of successful development in the city, starting with Edinburgh Park over 25 years ago.  Crucially though, the property market has changed and these new arrangements will mean that the regeneration work in Craigmillar and Granton will now have a much greater weight behind it and should progress faster. 

“Everyone is extremely proud of what we have achieved and the positive legacy EDI will leave.  In the meantime we remain firmly focused on finishing our current developments like the hotel on Market Street, which will be a wonderful addition to the architecture of the Old Town.”