Princes Mall: 'Original deal looks a little short-sighted'

Published on Monday 27 December 2010 06:19

THE Long Leases (Scotland) Bill sounds like the kind of law that no-one apart from solicitors, property developers and the politicians who are paid to care about these things would take the slightest interest in.

But the repercussions of this largely technical legislation look likely to have a significant impact on the Capital and the future of one of its best-known, most valuable commercial property sites.

Unknown to most people, the land on which the Princes Mall shopping centre stands above Waverley Station is owned by the city council on behalf of the people of Edinburgh.

The land is worth around 50 million but the current leaseholder, Sir David Murray, could soon buy it for just 2.60.

This is because the Scottish Government is proposing to give long-term leaseholders the right to buy property on which they have a lease lasting more than 175 years.

The price would be based on the value of the lease which was set at just a penny a year by the council when they struck the original deal in the 1980s.

There is no way the council could have known then what the yet-to-be-created Scottish Parliament would be planning for 2011.

That deal now looks a little short-sighted though, given the value of the land and the modest returns for city taxpayers.

But we should not forget that it achieved its initial aim of seeing the site redeveloped into a thriving part of the city centre.

The progress of this Bill will now be keenly watched in the Capital in the hope of protecting a potential windfall for future generations.

Work of art

There are plenty of reasons to be apprehensive about the new year as our report on this page shows most of us are only too keenly aware.

So it is good to be able to look forward to some positive news about two of the city's most popular attractions.

Major redevelopments at the National Museum and the Portrait Gallery are due to reopen in 2011 - on time and on budget - and the results promise to be spectacular.

Unfortunately, asbestos problems mean work at the Commonwealth Pool has been a little less smooth.

But the revamped museum and gallery should soon provide some great days out, and something else to crow about to potential visitors.