National Trust sells £11m HQ to property developers

Published on Thursday 29 October 2009 21:06

TROUBLED charity the National Trust for Scotland has completed the sale of its historic Edinburgh headquarters.

After nearly three months of speculation, Wemyss House – at Nos 26 to 31 Charlotte Square – has been bought by property developer Fordell Estates. It reportedly paid up to 11 million for the building in the heart of the New Town.

It is believed Fordell – which already owns two properties in the square – is in talks with several financial firms they hope will move into the building in the near future, turning the area into a mini-financial centre.

A spokesman for Fordell said: "We honour the legacy of Wemyss House and look forward to helping restore the vitality of Charlotte Square as the heart of Edinburgh's New Town."

The NTS bought Wemyss House, consisting of six houses on the south side of the square, for 6m in 1996 and spent a further 6.6m refurbishing it. It created a single office complex for 120 staff, which was formally re-opened by the Queen in 2000.

The sale will require the trust to return what officials admit is a "significant proportion" of 6.9m from the Heritage Lottery Fund that was incorporated into its purchase and construction budgets.

It emerged in August that the trust had had the property for sale since last November.

Bill Fraser, of In Trust for Scotland, a campaign group of NTS members, said: "The NTS has consistently refused to answer members' questions on the sale of Wemyss House.

"We expect the NTS board to provide the membership with full details of the net proceeds from the sale as quickly as possible so we can assess the impact – even after the fact."

The sale comes after a turbulent year for the cash-strapped charity, in which it was forced to announce the closure of 11 of its historic properties and lay off some 91 staff.

Chief Executive Kate Mavor insisted last night that the sale would ensure money was put to the best possible use in protecting some of Scotland's most important cultural and natural heritage.

She said: "We are pleased with the price achieved, especially in the current climate. This has also enabled us to drive a hard bargain on our new premises.

"We will also continue the important process of finding suitable homes for the important collections which are currently on display in our gallery."

It is understood that the artworks displayed at No 28 Charlotte Square will have to be given back to the original donors after it emerged they had only agreed to lend the pieces on the understanding they be displayed at Wemyss House.

The charity is due to move into its new canal-side office at Hermiston Quay West in Edinburgh in October next year.