Cities alliance to showcase £7.5bn of property projects

The Scottish Cities Alliance is aiming to attract 'major' international investment into the country by showcasing its 'pitch book' to a global property conference this week.

Projects in the 'pitch book' include the Dundee Waterfront scheme. Picture: Contributed

The alliance – a collaboration between the Scottish Government and the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Perth and Stirling – will market more than £7.5bn worth of opportunities at the annual Mipim event, being held in Cannes from 15 to 18 March.

It said the “investor-ready and pipeline opportunities” stand to develop a highly skilled workforce and create thousands of jobs.

Scottish Property Federation director David Melhuish said: “We have long suggested that the key to attracting global capital to Scotland is to ensure that cities are visibly ‘open for business’, and that the opportunities for innovative partnerships with long term investment potential are visible to a wide audience.

“We welcome the idea of this pitch book as part of a series of measures to showcase the opportunities which are available in our cities and beyond. We would also like to see a real estate forum created that would bring together government and the real estate sector to act as a catalyst to drive investment.”

The projects highlighted in the “pitch book” include a £1.5bn regeneration programme for Aberdeen city centre, the £1bn Dundee Waterfront project and a £2.7bn revamp of the Clyde Gateway.

Among other schemes featured are a £1bn investment in Edinburgh BioQuarter, the £350 million Inverness Airport Business Park, a mixed-use hotel and leisure redevelopment in Perth and the Kildean Business Park in Stirling.

Edinburgh council leader Andrew Burns, who chairs the Scottish Cities Alliance, said: “The key objective of the alliance is to drive economic growth in Scotland’s seven cities.

“Over 20,000 people, including thousands of investors from all over the world, attend Mipim every year, so it is a fantastic opportunity to showcase our investor-ready projects to some of the most influential figures in the international property market.”

Keith Brown, cabinet secretary for infrastructure, investment and cities, added: “The scale and scope of opportunities on offer is truly impressive. I call on the investment community to get behind this prospectus to and help us deliver future-proofed infrastructure and connectivity across our cities and their regions.”