Development’s sales hit seven figures

● Housebuilder behind prestigious site expects further deals within weeks

Crescent last summer, including substantial excavations to create an underground car park. CALA Homes and Evans Property Group recently announced that they had secured a £21m joint funding package from Barclays to help deliver phase one of The Crescent.

They said marketing of the first release of properties had already generated a “substantial amount of interest” from local and overseas markets.

The building of Donaldson’s started in 1842, after local newspaper publisher James Donaldson bequeathed his estate to establish a hospital for children after his death.

It was designed by renowned architect William Henry Playfair, whose other landmark buildings in Edinburgh include the Scottish National Gallery on The Mound.

CALA said the design of the new development is “sympathetic to its surroundings in Edinburgh’s New Town”.

CALA Group said in January that it had increased its annual building target and was on track to deliver its sixth consecutive year of record revenues and profits after a strong first half. The business reported a year-on-year jump of more than a third in total home completions to 939 in the six months to 31 December.