Plans submitted for large-mixed use Edinburgh development including 599-bed student accommodation

The proposals were submitted by Izar V Lux S. à r. L and Fusion for a mixed-use development comprising residential, purpose-built student accommodation, office and other commercial uses, with associated landscaping /public realm, car and cycle parking, and access arrangements, on land 60 metres north of 1 Fettes Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh.

Despite only appearing on the council’s planning portal last week, the plans have already received 18 objections, although they are private at this stage and unable to view. Office buildings and ancillary structures that were present on the site have now been demolished and removed as per previously consented applications.

The large 2.44 hectares empty site off Eyre Terrace, backs onto George V Park, Dundas Street and Royal Crescent. The plans include 166 car parking spaces, as well as 25 motorcycle parking spaces and 836 bicycle spaces for this development, which will have six residential blocks, ranging in height from 28 metres to 41 metres tall. Vehicular access would be via Eyre Terrace.

In the planning documents, the applicant said: “The proposed development offers extensive amenity space and the opportunity to open up the site allowing connection between the surrounding pedestrian routes with King George V Park.

“It introduces a number of new public realm spaces and routes to and through the site. A key new route will be introduced between Dundas Street to King George V Park. In addition, public connections onto Eyre Terrace alongside a new route that runs adjacent to the park edge from Eyre Terrace to Eyre Place have been introduced.

“Should the site continue to lie vacant, it would not provide any financial, community or aesthetic improvements to the local area. Being a large site within a central urban and historically attractive setting, an empty site of this scale would represent a missed opportunity to input to the environment and economy of this part of Edinburgh.”

The Stockbridge site, pictured in 2022 while demolition works were being carried out. | Google Maps

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The residential units would be in six blocks. Blocks 1-4 would be crescent shaped buildings in the south east corner of the site between King George V Park to the north and Royal Crescent to the south.

The plans show that block 5 comprises a separate tenement style block that adjoins block 4 via a link building. Private garden space links all blocks by means of a raised podium deck with pedestrian access permissible via an access and bridge from the site to Royal Crescent.

Blocks 1 and 2 are referred to as the ‘primary crescent’ and they provide a mix of unit types with a range of one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments. These blocks are six storeys in height with two storeys below the podium level.

Blocks 3 and 4 are referred to as the ‘secondary crescent’ and provide dual aspect three-bedroom duplex apartments on the ground floor with two and three-bedroom apartments on upper floors.

The applicant added: “The buildings have been designed to follow the curved line of Royal Crescent and will be set back from the existing retaining wall and line of retained vegetation on the southern boundary.”

Block 5 comprises a ‘tenement’ style block located at the east end of Fettes Row as it transitions to Royal Terrace. This block provides a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments and is a seven-storey building with two storeys below the podium level.

Block 6, which comprises 100 apartments over eight floors, would be located at the south western corner of the site and provides frontage to both Fettes Row and Dundas Street.

The seven-storey mid-market rent block will provide frontage to Dundas Street on its western elevation and Eyre Terrace to the east. A further block connects both elevations to create a central courtyard between all building elevations. This block will provide 108 affordable housing units for the rental market in a mixture of one, two and three-bedroom layouts.

A further two blocks, seven and eight storeys high, would comprise a total of 599 purpose-built student accommodation units. These buildings were consented under previous planning applications.

Two pre-application consultation events were undertaken to present the changes to the consented development to the local community in October and November last year.