Mercer signs deal on landmark pub

A PUB developed by former Hearts football club owner Wallace Mercer in the early 1980s as part of a luxury housing development has been given a new lease of life following a deal signed by the property tycoon’s son.

Mercer’s company, Pentland Securities, picked up a Saltire preservation design award for redeveloping the 11-storey “Brown on the Mound” in Edinburgh, which was previously a stationers’ building and had been branded a “derelict pigeon loft”.

Now Almondale Investments, the successor company run by his son, Iain, has signed a deal for Mike Miller to lease the pub on North Bank Street, which currently trades as the Wash Bar.

Miller – who previously managed the site through a sub-lease from current tenant, Trust Inns – has signed a 25-year lease, with the initial rent set at £35,000 a year.

Mercer said that Trust Inns had not wanted to carry on with the lease, which expires in October.

“It seems to be an emerging trend of national pub operators to retreat from locations that are not deemed to be ‘core’ and the confidence shown by Mike in the premises and the location is most welcome,” Mercer added.

Wallace Mercer founded his Almondale Group in 1993, with Iain joining the business in 2001. Iain took control of the group in 2006 when his father died.

In the latest property deal, John Buchanan represented Almondale Investments, while Miller’s company, Miltime, was represented by CDLH Leisure & Hospitality Surveyors.