Next exciting chapter
Development will bring new life to heart of the capital, says Paul Drury
Waverley Station in edinburgh has always been good for a story – after all, its name honours the country’s greatest teller of tall tales. When it opened in 1868, Britain’s second biggest railway station took the name from the hero of Sir Walter Scott’s trilogy, Waverley.
It became the first railway station in Scotland to sport a Christmas tree and when its roof was replaced, it took 27,400 glass panels to cover the equivalent of 14 football pitches.
Now the area of the city where it is located is to enter a new chapter, with 7.5 acres of land next to the station forming an ambitious £240million area of office, leisure and residential development.
The ‘New Waverley’ will continue to make the news as Boris Johnston has commissioned part of the new government building on the site, Queen elizabeth House, to accommodate a room, where he plans to hold UK Cabinet meetings.
This week, housebuilder Queensberry Properties launched its own contribution to this exciting urban development, 66 contemporary residential apartments including penthouses and mews buildings. It is being built on the site of an old bus depot from the 1930s, which later became a car park.
Once completed next spring, the one, two and three-bedroom properties will have stunning views of the capital’s skyline, via floor-toceiling windows, along with private basement parking and landscaped communal facilities.
Sizes range from a compact 603 square feet for the one-bedroom apartment to 1,690 square feet over a galleried penthouse.
There will be three striking penthouses in total, two spanning two floors, plus a single-story penthouse offering a slice of luxury in the historic Old Town.
The Waverley Square apartments will be at the heart of the capital – edinburgh Castle is just up the hill, Waverley Station a three-minute walk away.
The Scottish parliament is a five-minute stroll and business and educational establishments such as edinburgh University are on the doorstep.
Selling agent rettie & Co anticipates price growth for prime property in edinburgh in the period 2021-23 could be up to 7 per cent per year. It says it is anticipating demand from edinburgh, the UK and beyond.
Hazel Davies, sales and marketing director at Queensberry Properties,
said: ‘We are delighted to bring this highly acclaimed new development to the market, set in arguably one of the world’s most desirable and historic locations.
‘Waverley Square offers a wealth of amenities and unsurpassed connectivity.’