TIMELINE
Henderson Global Investors purchased the St James Shopping Centre and adjoining New St Andrew’s House office block in 2006 and has since been drawing up plans to redevelop the site. Following a successful public exhibition in early 2008, an outline planning application for the proposed scheme (together with an illustrative masterplan for the St James Quarter) was submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council in September 2008.
The illustrative masterplan demonstrated how the overall redevelopment could appear in the future and considered opportunities to redevelop the wider St James Quarter including landholdings outside HGI’s ownership. This included the area around Picardy Place and St Mary's Cathedral.
Hendersons will submit a series of ‘reserved matters’ applications that will include the detailed architectural design for the buildings. If these are approved, then work could start on the new St James Quarter as soon as 2013, with the new shopping element opening in 2018 and the completion of the entire scheme expected the following year.
However, the exact timings for the delivery of the new St James Quarter are dependent on a number of factors including the necessary planning consents. We will therefore update the anticipated timings for each of the key stages as the scheme evolves and progresses.
Hendersons are currently embarking on a CPO backed aquisition programme involving all purchasing and/or relocating all existing tenants to feuhold interest on the the site prior to demolition.