Atria office complex sells for £105m

THE city council is to sell the Atria office development in the heart of the Capital's financial district to a German-based real estate investment company for £105 million.

The Atria One Building on Morrison Street, Edinburgh. Picture: Toby Williams

The Grade A offices in Morrison Street were originally built to cross-subsidise an extension to the next-door Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC).

The council said the development had attracted a significant amount of interest when it was put up for sale in October last year. The final buyer is Frankfurt-based Deka Immobilien, which in 2012 acquired the nearby Edinburgh One office in Morrison Street, occupied by the Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, for £23.75 million.

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Atria, which openedin May 2013, consists of two buildings - Atria One and Two - totalling nearly 200,000 sq ft of accommodation. It is home to some leading names from business and finance including PwC, Brewin Dolphin, Aon, IBM, the UK Green Investment Bank, the Law Society of Scotland, Alliance Trust, Lothian Pension Fund and the EICC. Retail occupiers include the Co-operative Food and Café Klaris.

Councillor Gavin Barrie, the council’s economy convener, said: “I’m delighted that we have concluded the sale of Atria. This is a further endorsement of the council’s decision to create an innovative funding package to develop much needed Grade A office space in the city to attract new, and retain existing, businesses in the Capital while also cross-subsidising the cost of an expansion to the EICC.

“The fact that we have been able to attract investment into Edinburgh from a major overseas real estate company is testament to the quality of the building and its occupiers.

“Our plan was always to sell Atria once the development was completed and the economic conditions were right to achieve the best possible return for the Council’s investment and I believe we have achieved this.”

The council said proceeds from the sale would be used to repay money borrowed to facilitate the development, as well as to bolster the council’s strategic development fund and fund changes at the council.