The National Wealth Fund has agreed a £38.4m loan to the City of Edinburgh Council to pay for the enabling works that will bring forward the first phase of the Granton Waterfront regeneration, one of Scotland’s largest brownfield redevelopment projects.
Announced on 11 September, the loan will fund land remediation, road and utility infrastructure, and public realm works on a former industrial site in the north of Edinburgh. Enabling work is already under way on Phase 1, which is set to deliver 847 homes, including 214 new social houses, a new primary school and space for 14 ground floor retail units.
Phase 1 sits within a wider £1.3 billion programme to regenerate the waterfront, which is planned to deliver around 3,500 energy efficient homes, space for leisure facilities and what the National Wealth Fund describes as Scotland’s largest coastal park.
The Fund said its intervention is designed to make the project’s financial model work by giving the Council a bespoke, low-cost lending facility and, in doing so, unlocking around £160m of additional private sector investment. Once the enabling works are complete, serviced plots will be handed to the Council’s development partner to bring forward homes for sale.
Oliver Holbourn, CEO of the National Wealth Fund, said: “It’s great to be working with leaders at the City of Edinburgh Council to help deliver their ambitious local growth plans, including through regeneration projects like Granton Waterfront, delivering meaningful change to people, places and businesses in the region.”
City of Edinburgh Council Leader Jane Meagher said: “We are grateful to the National Wealth Fund for its support through a cost-effective loan, which is helping to enable the works for the first phase of this ambitious project.
“Phase 1 forms part of a wider £1.3 billion programme to regenerate Granton, transforming what was once a neglected part of the city into a thriving and desirable place to live, work and visit.
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“As the largest public sector led project of its kind in Scotland, it will continue to set the standard for sustainable economic growth in Edinburgh for years to come, whilst responding to the ongoing housing emergency.”
Granton Waterfront is one of seven priority strategic sites in the Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region deal and was designated by the Scottish Government as a site for national development under National Planning Framework 4.
