Plans lodged for new Edinburgh retirement homes at 2-acre site in Coltbridge Terrace
Plans for 200 retirement homes in and around Edinburgh have been lodged with the aim of providing ‘a portfolio of extra care communities’ across the capital over the next seven years.
Developer Vivere has recently acquired Lansdowne House in Coltbridge Terrace from St George’s School with plans to transform the 2.2-acre site into the brand’s first community of ‘extra care’ homes with high-quality on-site amenities and care services.
Part of a £25 million investment, the project would see the refurbishment and restoration of the listed buildings to provide a combination of refurbished heritage and newly built homes, alongside spectacular communal lounges.
Vivere are currently looking to acquire other sites that can provide between 50 to 80 homes in Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife for either new build, converted properties, or a combination of both. If planning consent is granted, the transformation of Lansdowne House will be the first in a series of extra care projects the developer has planned for central Edinburgh.
Scott Curran, co-founding director of Vivere said: “It is our aim to create a portfolio of high-quality extra care living communities in Scotland, commencing in Edinburgh. These will be high quality homes, alongside on-site amenities and tailored care services to suit resident’s needs. Our aim is for our residents to live longer, not grow old.
“The provision of extra care communities will help to relieve local pressures on NHS services, as well as providing homes to the hugely undersupplied housing sector in Scotland.”
Vivere is a joint venture between Probitas, a specialist in extra care and senior living homes, and Stephenson Group, a leading contractor and mixed-use investor-developer founded in 1962 with offices in Scotland, England and Wales.
Martin Stephenson, chairman of Stephenson Group and co-founding director of Vivere said: “Scotland, like the rest of the UK, has an overwhelming demand to provide housing with care and services to a large and fast-growing older demographic, but with the key difference for Scotland currently being the huge lack of supply of these tailored homes and services within the housing sector. With its development plans Vivere aims to provide a quality product to the market and help to meet the demands in the sector.”
Vivere co-founding director, Beatrix Lehnert, added: “Alongside delivering best-in-class extra care schemes, our approach is to partner with Scottish businesses, suppliers and operators who are local leaders in their field to provide the care services and amenities for our new communities. This way Vivere will help to create new jobs and investment in Edinburgh alongside the construction jobs generated by the building of our new projects.”