City councillors have approved plans from York-based development company S Harrison to create a major new student accommodation scheme on a disused site near Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium.
The development will offer 394 bedrooms, including 48 studios and a range of cluster apartments, each with between six and nine bedrooms. It will incorporate secure cycle parking for every resident, landscaped grounds and communal space including breakout study rooms, a games area, gym, cinema and laundry. There will also be a suite that local community organisations can use.
The site is on the corner of Westfield Road and Westfield Avenue, directly opposite Sainsbury’s. It is currently home to a vacant retail unit that was previously occupied by Sterling Furniture, before the company expanded to new premises at Fort Kinnaird Retail Park.
David Clancy, development director at S Harrison, said: “We are clearly delighted that our plans to redevelop this brownfield site into much-needed student accommodation have been given the green light.
“The development’s high-quality design will enhance the local streetscape, as well as bringing new residents into this part of Edinburgh, who are economically and socially active, which will add to the area’s vibrancy and demographic diversity.
“Crucially, it will also free up general housing stock, in accordance with the Council’s student guidance. We’re now looking forward to getting these proposals underway in the coming months and will continue to work closely with the Council and local community to deliver this development.”
S Harrison has made a significant investment in Edinburgh in recent years and is now exploring further opportunities across Scotland’s central belt. In addition, the company has submitted another planning application, to create a student accommodation scheme on Gorgie Road next to the Water of Leith, consisting of 269-bedrooms and a range of high-quality amenities.
The company is currently transforming Buchan House, on St Andrew Square in Edinburgh’s New Town, into a 72-bedroom Malmaison hotel with bar and brasserie.
It also recently secured planning approval to transform a 1970s office building in the Wester Coates area, into a new hotel development and is exploring opportunities for a 0.6 hectare site on Ocean Drive in Leith.
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