Grass fills a gap as plan for brewery goes flat

PART of the former Fountain Brewery site earmarked for a commercial development is to be turned into grass and gardens in a bid to improve the appearance of the area.

Developers behind the massive Springside scheme admit they are no nearer to finding a suitable office or hotel to occupy the proposed commercial part of their site next to Fountainbridge.

So instead they plan to landscape the area and build a semi-permanent sales centre in order to make it more attractive to local residents and prospective buyers of the flats that are being built.

It has also been revealed that two new blocks of flats may lie empty as building frames and only be fitted out as flats when the market improves.

The news comes as the Evening News today publishes the first images of the mixed-use development, where the first 58 apartments are due to be completed on to the market in a fortnight.

Developers AMA, Grosvenor and Royal Bank of Scotland say they remain committed to the long-term future of the site and the Fountainbridge area, despite the tough economic conditions.

The consortium had previously announced that the hunt for an occupier of the proposed 62,000 square feet office development and 104,000 sq ft commercial site was on hold.

Robin Blacklock, development director of Grosvenor, said landscaping the commercial site for the shorter term would improve the whole look of the area.

He said: "By leaving up hoardings we are not doing what we had planned by opening up the Springside site. But putting up a sales office and having grass and a more pleasant experience it will really open up the site.

"This is not the route that we had planned and we would much rather crack on with the site but we can't in the current market.

"It is best for those who will be living there, and for potential development partners coming in, if we carry out some work to improve the look of the site now."

A first marketing drive in March saw 17 of the new flats sold off-plan. Those residents are to gain access to their properties for the first time from the end of this month, when the first 58 units are completed.

The remainder of the one, two and three-bedroom flats, which range from 199,000 to 610,000, will go straight on the market.

A further block for 88 flats is due to be completed by the end of the year, followed by another block for 87 flats in 2011. However, if the sale of the first batch is not completed, the fit-out of the flats will be put on hold.

But Dr Ali Afshar, director of AMA, insists that the development in its current form is still right for the area. He said: "I think that fundamentally Edinburgh needs properties like this. There is a fundamental shortage of property against demand. The current issue is the lack of liquidity in the market to allow people to perform and the confidence for people to spend."

PAY TO PARK

AROUND 10 million has been spent on creating a 244-space underground car park – the biggest single-storey car park in Edinburgh. However, residents will need to pay extra to buy or hire a space, although no pricing structure has yet been agreed.

Three new pedestrian crossings have also been created, providing a safe, well-lit ground-level crossing on the West Approach Road towards the Haymarket area, as well as two new bus stops.

The residential units will have access to a public park and footpaths to Gilmore Place and Fountainbridge.