DEVELOPERS have submitted plans for a £700 million new district which will see a business gateway built with homes, offices and shops.
Work on the new district for the west of Edinburgh could begin as early as 2017 if approval is granted by city council planners.
The proposed International Business Gateway (IBG) would include a mix of offices, shops and 2,000 homes on 90 acres of land adjacent to Edinburgh Airport.
Its development consortium includes two Edinburgh-based companies, Sir David Murray's Murray Estates and New Ingliston, and a joint venture set up by Frogmore and Salmon Harvester.
It is claimed the new district is well-placed placed for road, rail and air links and will bring thousands of jobs.
The IBG masterplan is based on a grid pattern, thus replicating the layout of Edinburgh’s New Town.
Jestyn Davies, director of Murray Estates, said: “In several ways IBG will emerge as a self-sustaining community while still being very much a part of Edinburgh, within whose boundary it will lie."
The proposal that has gone before the city council focuses on the first of a two-phase development masterplan.
The initial programme envisages the creation of approximately 2.25 million sq ft of built space, of which 1.3m sq ft will be commercial.
The scheme will be business-led, with this space given over to offices, hotels and other leisure facilities and retail.
The shopping streets are said to have been designed to provide convenience shopping for local users, rather than as a major competitors to the nearby Gyle Centre nor the prime retail space within the city centre.
However, Mr Davies said he believed that the office element of the scheme will play a role in complementing the wider Edinburgh market.
He said: "Everyone is aware of the diminishing levels of grade A space in the city centre, which in turn is leading to higher rents on Edinburgh Park.
“International Business Gateway should help to ‘balance’ rental levels for quality office accommodation in Edinburgh, which is essential to attracting both investors and tenants.”
Martin Dalziel, director of New Ingliston, said: “It is extremely unusual, with a proposal of this type and of this scale, for high-end transport infrastructure to be already in place and fully operational before the first turf is cut.
"The seamless link the trams provide to Edinburgh Park the central business district and both main railway stations will in itself help generate investor and occupier interest.”
It is also claimed aircraft noise will not be an issue as the site does not lie under the airport flight path.
Frank Ross, convenor of the economy committee on the City of Edinburgh Council, said: "The International Business Gateway is one of the most strategically important development propositions in Edinburgh and Scotland.
"The location’s connectivity is unmatched, with Edinburgh’s tram line linking it directly to the city centre and to Edinburgh Airport. Edinburgh Park business park and the global headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland are just minutes away.
“This is an exciting opportunity to deliver a flagship development that will help accommodate the city’s continued economic growth. I look forward to seeing the proposals in detail."
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