LAST TRUMP FOR OLD BUS DEPOT?

Submitted by Editor on Fri, 01/04/2016 - 11:36

BELLEVUE TRANSFORMED

This morning, exclusively, Spurtle can reveal that a major new sports and hotel complex could be coming to Broughton if City of Edinburgh Council grants outline planning consent.

We’ve found no official pre-application trace of the scheme.

However, we understand an undisclosed US businessman – whose international sports-venue portfolio alone is valued at over $600 million – is in talks to purchase, demolish and redevelop the Lothian Buses Depot/HQ area around Annandale Street.

Sky golf

The multimillion-pound initiative would see Lothian Buses quit central Edinburgh to make way for an innovative 80m-high structure comprising a presidential-class hotel, luxury spa and 18-hole ‘course-in-the-clouds’.

The open-air City SkyLinks would occupy the building’s top four storeys, affording stunning views across the capital and beyond, and a unique test of players’ skill.

Achieving all this would require compulsorily purchasing property of no architectural or heritage merit between Green Street, Bellevue Road and Annandale Street. And securing an option on ‘semi-derelict and unsightly’ premises immediately to the west.

Further sub-prime acquisitions would likely follow along the length of East London Street, bringing the site’s total footprint to well over 6 hectares. A provisional start-date has been set for spring 2021.

‘Blue-chip player’

Our source for these reports is Ludo (not their real name), part of a team from New York-based real-estate and development consultants Primero de la Cuarto Inc. We met them by chance at last weekend’s EICC conference on Realizing Offshore Sustainability (25–27 March).

Ludo claims to have advised a ‘blue-chip player’ in below-the-radar pre-discussions with CEC and the Scottish Government for around 18 months, and alleges Council negotiators are desperate to extract maximum value from this key location.

Ludo says PdlC’s client always plays hardball, but will pay top dollar to seal such a potentially lucrative deal.

His business model focuses on ‘high-net-worth international golf-nuts’ who want the thrill of a St Andrews or Carnoustie without the inconvenience of leaving civilization.

Here, ‘They can play all day in controlled, secure, premium surroundings while their partners take a treatment or go explore culture in the St James Quarter.’

‘Edinburgh will love it’

How, we asked, does the developer expect locals will react to losing their homes, or stray balls impacting their property, or a major intervention on the city’s skyline?

‘Scotland is the mother of all golf,’ says Ludo. ‘People here are genetically gagging for it.

‘And even if they’re not, our guy figures they’ll go down on their knees and thank outstanding American entrepreneurial muscle for pumping billions into the economy.

‘This project guarantees literally tens and hundreds of thousands of jobs in hospitality, ancillary services, security and green-keeping. Edinburgh will love it.’

As you might expect, Spurtle has received no confirmation of our source’s claims from City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh Business Forum, Marketing Edinburgh, VisitScotland or Edinburgh Airport bosses.

Make of that what you will. It doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.

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