Ex-Caltongate owner officially rules out developing on site

Published on Tuesday 18 August 2009 09:40

THE former owner of Caltongate has formally dropped its interest in the site – but insisted it still wants to invest in Edinburgh.

The massive site became available five months ago when owner Mountgrange Capital plunged into administration.

A separate fund run by the same directors, Mountgrange Investment Management (MIM), was said to have been weighing up a bid for the site after raising 300 million to invest in sites where the developer has gone bust.

But a senior figure at the fund today confirmed that it has dropped any interest in the site – although it is still keen to return to Edinburgh.

Nick Berry, a partner in MIM and a former director of Mountgrange Capital, said: "We are not looking at Caltongate. We have raised 300m through a fund and are now focused on other things.

"If you have worked on a project for four years, you do not want to say no. We were considering where we stood but we are not now looking at it.

"Personally, it is disappointing that it will not happen for us. We spent four years on it and we are very proud of it. We are also very keen on Edinburgh – it is a great city – but we have to move on.

"We are out there looking to invest and I have no doubt we will invest in Edinburgh again – but not on that particular site."

Mountgrange Capital fell into administration in April after Bank of Scotland, which was owed 73.8m, pulled its support.

The firm, also headed by Manish Chande and Martin Myers, had blamed delays to the progress of its planning application for leading to it getting ready to start development at a time when the economic downturn was in full swing.

But today, Mr Berry said he has seen signs that the planning process in the city is improving – and said he still hopes another developer can make Mountgrange's vision for the site a reality.

Last week, the Evening News revealed that there were a number of "credible" bids on the table from firms looking to buy the site.

"I would very much like to see that consent progress," he said. "That particular consent has been through the mill. It has been thoroughly scrutinised and I think it is very exciting and will do a huge amount of good, not only for that part of Edinburgh but for Edinburgh as a whole.

"The council are now taking a much more proactive approach to investment and that will help.

"Edinburgh is what Edinburgh is partly because of its heritage and someone has to look after it, but it has to be a balance.

"When we went through the scrutiny, I think it could have been a lot quicker and the expectations can be unrealistic."

John Reid, joint administrator at Deloitte, said some form of deal for the site is now expected to be completed by the end of September or middle of October.