New images of £350m Haymarket Gap site development unveiled as work begins

The site has lain vacant for half a century.

New images of the £350 million Haymarket Gap site development have been unveiled as work started on the major project.

The site, between Dalry Road and Morrison Street, will comprise five buildings - three offices and two hotels - and provide 365 bedrooms and space for up to 4,500 workers.

Led by Qmile Group and M&G Real Estate, the development has been designed by globally renowned architect Foster + Partners and will also provide about 40,000 sq ft of retail space.

Haymarket Edinburgh aims to provide a vibrant new landscaped public realm for the city centre.

And at the heart of the project will be Haymarket Square, which aims to provide a vibrant landscaped public space offering leisure and retail opportunities as well as a social and events space. It is thought the new public square could be used for weekend and festive markets on the site that has lain derelict and abandoned for half a century.

Qmile Group chief executive, Paul Curran, said: "Our objective is to make Haymarket Edinburgh a world-class place for business, leisure and hospitality. Our work at Quartermile clearly demonstrated how we can deliver complex, high-profile projects, so we are very pleased to reunite the same team on Haymarket Edinburgh.

"The development has been designed to deliver sustainable commercial and societal benefits for the city. We will purposefully create a platform for further economic growth within the Capital at Haymarket Edinburgh and provide the city’s residents and visitors with inclusive new public space.

"With work now started on site, the vision for Haymarket Edinburgh is well on its way to becoming a reality. There has already been significant interest from a range of occupiers and we only expect this to increase now we have begun the build programme with the first building, 1 Haymarket Square, scheduled for delivery during the second quarter of 2022."

Edinburgh Haymarket will provide more than 380,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation, 365 bedrooms and 40,000 sq ft of retail space.

'New attractive quarter for city'

M&G Real Estate acquired the four-acre site, a former goods yard next to Haymarket Train Station, in 2018 for £49.1 million.

Contractor Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd is currently on site delivering Haymarket Edinburgh’s first building, 1 Haymarket Square, which will provide 110,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation and has a gross development value of £80 million.

The development will only include 55 car parking spaces - and will have room to store 688 cycles.

Qmile Group has previously worked with M&G Real Estate, Foster + Partners and Sir Robert McAlpine, to deliver the £750 million mixed-use Quartermile development, also in Edinburgh city centre.

M&G Real Estate’s director of asset management, Aaron Pope, said: "With work on 1 Haymarket Square progressing at pace, we are excited to maintain the momentum with commencement of works on the wider development. It will set a new tone for Edinburgh’s office accommodation and deliver a new attractive quarter for the city and all who live and work there."