Construction of 256 homes is scheduled to start in summer 2025, once the Ferry Road site is cleared and prepared.
Planning approval was granted in March 2024 for Leeds-based Artisan together with Luxembourg fund manager REInvest Asset Management SA to create a low-carbon residential community on the vacant site near the Crewe Toll roundabout in the northwest of Edinburgh city centre.
Known as 525 Park View, the new neighbourhood will provide 256 flats, 25% of which will be for affordable housing. Street level commercial space facing on to Ferry Road will provide potential for cafes, shops and workspaces. The development is designed by Edinburgh-based 7N Architects.
No contractor has been appointed yet for the construction works.
The 110,000 sq ft Deutsch Bank House was an office and data-processing centre and was formerly the Scottish base for State Street Bank until the building was vacated in 2018. The phased demolition programme, led by Metropolitan Demolition, will last up to six months.
Artisan’s regional director for Scotland, David Westwater, said: “This is a hugely exciting opportunity to breathe new life into an underused site, while ensuring its long-term future by delivering a new sustainable community to an accessible city centre location, underlining Artisan’s long-term commitment to future investment in Edinburgh.”
Artisan is working with Edinburgh-based social enterprise EALA Impacts to help manage the salvaging and reuse of materials from the existing building . “We will ensure that as much material as possible from the demolition will be recycled on site and used for the new development,” said Westwater.
