The decline of the traditional high street and the need to create a new forms of community have been omnipresent in the news media.  Paul Hanegraaf of Creative Navigate at Milligan defined their attitude to redevelopment asPlacemaking to us is not gravity and rainwater, it’s not buildings, it’s about people”. [emaillocker id=”71749″]

 Milligan are creating a modern style of community space, Hanegraaf said,   “Places will be from about 80,000 to 120,000 sq ft and they become lovely massive destinations, they are mixed-used, they will have residential, they’ll have office, workspace, they become part of the city, it’s about retention in the city”.

The changing relationship between developers and tenants was a key concern of Miligan’s Creative Director who said that “What once were our occupiers are now our partners”. He discussed the emergence of a “New Localism”, with the high street chains struggling and need for developers to adapt, saying that “Agility is the new skill”. Hanegraaff summarized the change in relations by saying “We are becoming an operating company as much as a property development country”.

Stephen Wicks of Nuveen Real Estate echoed Hanegraaf’s sentiments saying “We do not just collect rent anymore, we have to work with these people”He discussed Nuveen’s massive new scheme for Edinburgh, he said, “Edinburgh St James, east end of Prince’s street, a fully integrated mixed-use scheme, although its retail and leisure led it had to be mixed use, we’ve got a W hotel with 180 beds, we’ve got an aparthotel with 75, 152 residential units, we’re bringing a lot of things together on this”

Wicks described the new public spaces being created with the St James development, with plans to create a public square with 1200 people capacity which will host fashion events and a rooftop terrace space to be rented by the community.  He also discussed how changes in the retail market was changing the retail experience, he said “Leisure is increasingly important, there are more and more independents”

Hilton Hotels have launched the new Motto Brand, seeking to capitalise on the decline of traditional retail outlets, by transforming them into micro hotels. Speaking at the Built Environment Networking Scotland Conference Development Director at Hilton Hotels, Sarah Green describe how Motto as providing “Micro rooms in a prime urban environment so particularly for the failing highstreet and empty department stores, Motto is an option that can potentially fit into the area”. 

Hilton announced the opening of two new Hotels in Scotland, the opening of one in the town of Hamilton, near Glasgow, Green described this as “Hamilton Park, which opened at Hamilton race course, is a 180 bedroom Hotel by Hilton owned by the race course and operated under a franchise agreement with interstate hotels”. 

Green also announced the opening of a hotel in Aberdeen’s new The Event Complex Aberdeen, she said “The core brand Hilton has opened with TECA, there are  200 keys and this is an outstanding hotel, the whole TECA offering is huge.” She also hinted at a yet unofficially announced hotel saying that they had ”Just signed a deal for a new 210-bed hotel in the Highlands and Islands which will open in the next 24 months and is going through planning” 

Creating entire new communities was the agenda for Jestyn Davis, Managing Director of Murray Estates, who are developing Edinburgh’s Garden District, he described their approach as “Build on communities, we don’t go into the countryside and build villages that don’t connect onto anything, it’s far easier to do it with existing infrastructure”. 

The masterplan for the Garden District will take place over 700 acres, with 410 developable acres, up to 6,500 homes in 5 new villages.  Phase one of the garden district is the Redheughs Village which will deliver 1350 new homes, and feature naturalising to enact the garden aspirations for the area.

This will be followed by Phase 2, the University Village around Heriot-Watt, which will deliver up to 3500 new homes, and focuses on utilising the existing transport infrastructure, and building an inclusive growth area.

Other projects of Murray Estates include the International Business Gateway, which they control 800,000 of the 2.2m sq ft of the development which seeks to build on what Davis describes as the ““Growth corridors heading West outside of city”. Murrary estates are also building new communities in Torrance Park in North Lanarkshire, which will have 1700 units, and Kingdom Park in Kirkcaldy, featuring 1100 units and a “Pre-sold 530 unit neighbour centre”.

David Peck of Buccleuch a company with a  “Beds and Sheds” focus who shared their community developments. Peck described how they are seeking new joint ventures in Scotland, h “Looking to source partners which are ideas rich and cash poor”.

Peck agreed with Davis’ focus on building upon existing infrastructure, he said their new developments at the Shawfair site in Edinburgh, a joint venture with Mactaggart & Mickelfield Homes, were “Very much led through infrastructure including the new Waverley Line with along with highway infrastructure”.

 He discussed how they were creating a real sense of place at the new development, which will have 4,000 new homes, saying they were constructing a “New community and education facility which is now on track for 2025, it includes sports facilities, a primary and secondary school and a new library” 

The site will also be supported by a new business park, featuring the SQA headquarters and the Spire private hospital. A district energy system will also be utilised to and will be financed  “⅓ by Scottish government, a ⅓ by Midlothian ESCO and a ⅓ by us as a developer”.

The need for placemaking to be a key concern of developers was echoed by all of the speakers. Adapting to changing ways in which people work, live and play also presents new opportunities, and utilising existing links and infrastructure was highlighted as core to a strong placemaking strategy. [/emaillocker]