A planning application for new student accommodation with ground floor commercial space at Jock’s Lodge has been submitted to City of Edinburgh Council.
The proposals from student accommodation provider Alumno Group are located on the corner of Restalrig Road South and London Road.
The development is planned to include 191 student rooms over seven storeys, with existing local businesses on the site all agreeing to its sale, as current facilities are no longer commercially viable.
Development should comprise a mix of single bedrooms with shared kitchens and larger studio style bedrooms. Facilities provided will include a ground floor lounge, study, gym and social spaces, with cycle storage provision, laundry and storage.
The building will have a rear courtyard and terraces at roof level. It will have only two parking spaces included, one of which will be an accessible space.
Following a pre-application public engagement process, a series of design changes and developments have been realised, including reducing height from eight to seven storeys, as well as revising floor-to-floor heights and a shortening the parapet to reduce the building height further.
The commercial area offering has also been increased, with additional provision for an outdoor terraced area. The proposed commercial space will include a new community local food and drink use, replacing the neighbouring Limelite pub, but under the same local ownership.
The Willow pub, which currently operates on the site, has been relocated to Musselburgh and is now trading as Willow on High Street, following an agreement with Heineken. It will operate both at this new location until the Jock's Lodge site is redeveloped.
Prior to taking on a temporary management agreement for The Willow at Jock’s Lodge, the operators were advised of the planned sale of the site by Heineken, which identified it for disposal due to a "chequered trading history". They were offered it on a limited tenure and opted to take it on that basis while the negotiations to redevelop the site were finalised. The operators currently operate on a very minimum rent/utility-free basis.
Alumno is working with arts consultant Matthew Jarratt to deliver a series of sculptures and artwork commissions which will be integrated into the new building and public realm by Edinburgh-based artist Kenny Hunter.
Local artists, students and recent graduates from Edinburgh College of Art will also be engaged in design projects and given the opportunity to showcase their works at the site.
Alumno also noted that even if the development is delivered, the concentration of students will remain within an acceptable threshold.
If approved, the eight developments that are within a mile radius of the site - including Jock’s Lodge - will amount to 1,666 bedrooms, giving a student population of 4.3% in terms of purpose-built accommodation in that location. Combined with other students - i.e. those not living in purpose-built accommodation - this results in a total of 3,523 students or 8.9% of the population.
The number of full-time students living in the Craigentinny and Duddingston ward - in which the Jocks Lodge site sits - will only rise to 10.1% of the resident population if all the accommodation that is currently in use, has been approved, or is at application stage, is delivered.
This level puts it significantly lower than the proportions of full-time students living in the Southside/Newington, Meadows/Morningside and Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart wards.
It is anticipated that spending in the local area by the students living at the Jock’s Lodge development will be more than £900,000 per year, and at its peak during the construction phase it is estimated that the site will employ a workforce of up to 40.
David Campbell, founder of Alumno, said: “This exciting mixed-use scheme will serve to ease the acute housing pressures by providing greater options whilst, addressing the increasing and well documented, student housing demand by providing modern, high quality and well managed accommodation.
“We have listened to the responses of the local community through our thorough consultation process and have reduced the height of the building to accommodate this feedback.
“Employment and investment will be generated both during construction and once complete, increasing footfall to local shops and also serving to provide a new sustainable food/drink outlet for the community, including outdoor space.”
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