BYE-BYE, BRUTALISM – WORK ON St JAMES QUARTER TO BEGIN IN 2015

Submitted by Editor on Tue, 29/04/2014 - 13:03

Building the new St James Quarter seems to have taken a big step closer thanks to 'major' new funding arrangements agreed by City of Edinburgh Council, the Scottish Government and developer TIAA Henderson Real Estate.

Council Leader Cllr Andrew Burns, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and TIAA Henderson’s Martin Perry announced the ‘unprecedented’ arrangement this morning at offices in Greenside Row overlooking the St James Centre.

Demolition of the Brutalist landmark New St Andrew’s House is scheduled for early in the New Year (2015), with the St James Centre following at the start of the summer. A mixture of Italian galleria-style shops, offices, restaurants, 4 and 5-star hotels (with Four Seasons showing interest), a longer-stay ‘apart-hotel’, parking and residential units are envisaged. Also a James Craig east-end vertical statement, and a ‘digital theatre’, presumably for all those who like hand puppets.

Plans also include ‘a new combined cooling, heat and power centre, electric car charging points, extensive facilities for cyclists, photovoltaic panels, solar tubes and a city car club’.

John Lewis will stay where it is, stubbornly unreconstructed, like a discoloured old tooth in a Berlusconi smile.

The funding deal covers £61m required to improve local infrastructure and public space in the area. It will be raised by the ‘Regeneration Accelerator Model’ which allows for public/private investment in infrastructure by offsetting borrowing against future ‘business rates and overall gains to the economy’. To Edinburgh ears, this sounds a bit like ‘Prudential Borrowing Max’.

Optimists suggest that between 2015 and 2040, the new St James Quarter will add £25m per year to the Scottish economy, and provide 2,300 permanent jobs. Pessimists will inevitably suggest this is so much grandiose venture-capital hogwash and wishful thinking. Nicola Sturgeon is one of the optimists. She says, ‘This government is determined to invest in Scotland’s infrastructure – both to stimulate growth in the short term and lay the foundations for long term success.

‘Through schemes such as RAM we are increasing public investment in infrastructure across Scotland, which will create overall gains for the economy as a whole.’

Martin Perry of TIAA Henderson says, ‘This scale of investment is unprecedented in central Edinburgh and will transform the city’s retail offer, putting it on the international “map” of major shopping destinations'.

However, answering questions from Spurtle, he later conceded that £27m of the £61m figure announced today is part of the £850m development costs announced as long ago as 2008. Most of the remaining sum will go towards a ‘tram/bus interchange’ in Picardy Place.

This, Perry described as ‘an obvious contingency plan’ for any future extension of the tram system down Leith Walk. ‘It has always been part of Council thinking for the site.’

Much still remains to be done. The developers have outline planning permission so far, not the detailed permission they will need to begin putting up buildings. They also still have to find a new home for the King James Hotel currently on Leith Street. Interestingly, the visuals on display this morning showed no development at the centre of Picardy Place (see foot of page).

TIAA Henderson Real Estate (TH Real Estate for short) was set up earlier this month, but already describes itself as an ‘established investment management company with specialisation in real estate equity and debt investing worlidwide’. It is jointly owned by TIAA-CREF (60%) and Henderson Global Investors (40%). It manages a combined total of £71b in real estate assets globally, and is one of the biggest such companies in the world.

By the sound of it, it is now all systems go for the St James Quarter. However, this is not the first time Henderson have been upbeat about the site. We first reported their optimistic trumpetings in March 2008. For previous Spurtle coverage, visit Issues 156; 169, 174, 178, 206; 223; and Breaking news (6.3.10; 20.5.10; 10.2.11; 14.2.12; 1.6.13; 1.10.13; 4.12.13; 10.12.13).