M&G Real Estate have today completed a multi-million pound deal for The Haymarket regeneration site in Edinburgh. The deal, worth £49.1m, will see them take control of the land which has planning permission to develop office buildings, retail space and hotels.

The project is likely to be a key subject at the Edinburgh Development Plans Conference where M&G Real Estate are set to speak alongside developers including Link Housing and Buccleuch Property and more.

It’s hoped the deal will now see work kick-start on the site, which is a former railway good yard and one of the biggest commercial development sites in the country. The gross development value is around £280m – with planning permission for the development of three Grade A office buildings totalling 350,000 sq ft, provision for 40,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space, a 190-room hotel and a 172-room aparthotel.

The vision for the site will incorporate values at the heart of developments M&G Real Estate take on – including environmental excellence and well-being, whilst being built to the highest sustainability standards, with state of the art digital infrastructure, technology and connectivity.

Chris Perkins, Head of Business Space at M&G Real Estate and speaker at the Edinburgh Development Plans Conference, said: ”With the current supply and demand dynamics, bringing 350,000 sq ft to the market will reinforce the Exchange District as a prime hub for business in Europe. Whilst Edinburgh remains an attraction for heritage tourism, its rejuvenation as a business and leisure location over the past few years rightly places it amongst Europes’ leading cities. As a provider of investment solutions across geographies, sectors and product types, this investment reinforces our strategy of acquiring assets with potential for sustained income, strong capital appreciation location in targeted growth zones.”

The mentioned Exchange District neighbours the planned site – and it could see development opportunities to extend the Scottish capital’s financial quarter further with the Haymarket project helping to transform the area into a thriving and vibrant area. The centre already houses more FTSE 100 companies than any UK city, with the exception of London, and with the investment into the area it’s a trend that could continue.

Savills represented M&G Real Estate throughout the purchase from Interserve and Tiger Developments who initially put the land up for sale at the beginning of this year. It continues to see M&G Real Estate invest in Scotland, as it adds Haymarket to the Quartermile 3 and 4 plans it has to provide a £100m best-in-class workplace at The Grid in Glasgow.