Edinburgh City Council has shortlisted six parties vying for its long-awaited £170m mixed-use redevelopment at Fountainbridge.
It has approved six developers out of 10 applicants to move forward to the next round of bidding.
They are understood to be Chris Stewart Group, Muse Developments, Queensberry Properties (a jv between Buccleuch Property and Cruden Group), Qmile, HUB and Vastint.
Initial written submissions will be invited, with an expected timeline of six to eight weeks, and the council will advise on the next steps in due course. It is considering an open-ended completion for tenders due to challenges arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
Submissions were previously planned before Easter, with a partner to be selected by summer and a site start a year later.
Edinburgh City Council launched the search for a development partner on the mixed-use scheme, previously known as India Quay, last year.
Proposals comprise at least 435 homes, of which 177 are to be affordable, alongside 107,640 sq ft of offices and scope for a further 32,290 sq ft of commercial space on the ground floor.
Potential partners were invited to complete a questionnaire last May and the council officially launched the contract notice in October. Ten parties submitted requests in November, before CEC whittled this down to six.
The two-year contract will also see the preferred bidder deliver a low-carbon energy solution for the site, public realm and to agree long-term management for the site.
CEC’s arm’s-length development vehicle EDI acquired the 8.2-acre site in 2011 from Lloyds for £15m, primarily to facilitate the development of a new high school.
The council obtained outline consent for the development in 2014 and detailed consent for the residential and ground-floor retail in 2016, allowing for 113 social rented flats, 64 for mid-market rent and 259 for private rent or sale.
Lothbury Investment Management was set to make a deal in 2015 before Apache and Moda looked at the site the following year. In 2017, discussions with L&G for its first rental scheme in Scotland ended when the council opted to bring EDI in-house and review its regeneration arrangements.
The council is targeting completion of the scheme in 2025.
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