Lothian Leisure Development has partnered with Birmingham’s NEC Group to deliver a new indoor arena just outside Edinburgh.
A 30-acre site has been secured at Straiton, to the south of the city, for a mixed-use leisure and entertainment venue. It will be the first NEC-managed venue in Scotland.
As well as an 8,000-capacity venue, proposals for the wider development include a cinema and two hotels, as well as conference, retail and other leisure space.
LLD is currently in discussion with several parties to secure funding for the development phase.
Over the coming months the pair aims to progress the proposals to full scheme design stage, and to carry out a series of public consultations. The partnership aims to submit a planning application by the end of 2020.
Phil Mead, arenas and ticket factory chairman at NEC Group, said that the business had always planned to take its events model to new cities, with backing from majority shareholder Blackstone.
NEC, which operates two indoor arenas in Birmingham, will be the developer’s operating partner. It will take on full management of the arena, including event programming, hospitality, commercial rights, catering and ticketing, once planning permissions are in place.
Mead said: “Edinburgh is well known for its wonderful cultural offering but remains one of the only European capital cities without an indoor arena, and so we’re excited by the thought of being able to bring some big names in entertainment to the region.”
Dave Fowler, business development director at LLD, said: “We see this as a revolution in entertainment provision for one of the world’s most cultural capitals – and one which will benefit all sections of the community.”
Dave McGeachan of Scottish concert promoter DF Concerts, said: “These days, it is rare that a capital city doesn’t have an arena, so this is a long-awaited and positive addition to the Scottish entertainment market.”
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