New Town Quarter

Following our Edinburgh Future Development Plans event we’ve been catching up with Ross McNulty – Development Director at Ediston – who is heading up one of Edinburgh’s largest development projects…

Q. You’re leading on the largest brownfield city centre development in Edinburgh – a £250m scheme a New Town North, how will this scheme transform the city and how does Ediston approach such a major scheme?

We are aiming to create a new community within one of the best parts of Edinburgh city centre, but also need to be mindful of the existing community and to make it a better place for them too. Our vision is for New Town Quarter to be an exemplar site for Edinburgh, with respect to quality, placemaking and sustainability. We need to make sure it is a positive and lasting legacy for the city.

Q. How does Ediston’s approach creating a sense of place on your schemes and how are you applying this with New Town North?

To be honest, this started when we were bidding for the site, as it was a competitive process and the previous owners were very keen to understand the design rationalise for the site. So we started off looking at the connections with the park and the surrounding area and how the public realm should work. Then we thought about the buildings.

Q. How is Ediston approaching procurement for their new project to get ready for your planned start on the scheme in Q3 2021?

We’ve had the demolition contract in place for quite some time now and we’re currently in the process of interviewing tier 1 contractors for the main works.

Q. What upcoming schemes are Ediston most excited for and what are you still seeking partners on?

In addition to New Town Quarter we have three major developments in the pipeline. One is a prime city centre site and the other two are large residential led schemes – both will be transformational albeit one is an urban regeneration development and the other is more suburban.

We’re always looking for opportunities throughout the UK and we’re very lucky to have great partners to work with.

Q. Sustainable Design is a major part of the Ediston identity, how have you applied this principle on recent developments?

It is at the very core of what we do, and its constantly evolving. It starts with the design and therefore has to be considered from the outset. Technology is driving a lot of innovation and its moving fast, so it’s a job in itself to keep up!

Sustainability is very real now, as its important for both occupiers and landlords to understand how our developments are aligned with their own ESG requirements.

Q. You’re also a substantial asset manager, managing over £750m of assets across the country, how does this combined approach work for Ediston?

We have a full asset management platform which is managed by a high functioning unit of experienced asset managers. I do believe that they are the best in the business as their ability to keep tenants happy and covert new deals in this difficult climate is incredible.