Building Briefs – December 23rd

• Hines Global Income Trust acquires Edinburgh Royal Mail sorting house for £25m

The 215,745-square-foot facility, occupied by Royal Mail, is located on Edinburgh’s Sighthill Industrial Estate adjacent to Hermiston Gait Retail Park to the west end of the city. The property serves as the collection and sorting point for all mail from the east side of Scotland and employs over 700 people on site.

The acquisition marks the third investment in UK logistics assets by Hines Global in 2019.

Hines Global acquired a 139,387-square-foot asset in Milton Keynes, occupied by men’s clothing retailer Charles Tyrwhitt, and a 270,248-square-foot distribution facility in Bristol, occupied by DSG Retail, in November 2019.

• Greencoat UK Wind acquires Statkraft UK Limited windfarms for £104m

Greencoat UK Wind announced that it has acquired Scottish wind farms Windy Twig and Twentyshilling from Statkraft UK Limited for a combined consideration of £104 million, to be paid on completion.

The construction of the wind farms is expected to commence shortly, with the acquisition targeted to complete in Q2 2021 and Q3 2021 respectively, once each wind farm is fully operational.

Windy Rig (43.2MW) and Twentyshilling (37.8MW) are subsidy-free projects located in Dumfries & Galloway and were originally developed by Element Power (acquired by Statkraft in September 2018). Statkraft will manage the construction of both wind farms and will provide route-to-market and operational management services for the wind farms once operational.

Tim Ingram, chairman of Greencoat UK Wind, said: “This transaction follows and is very similar to our recently announced Glen Kyllachy acquisition from Innogy, with acquisition completion occurring upon the successful commissioning of the wind farms. We are delighted to partner with Statkraft on this transaction, demonstrating that UKW is the continuing partner of choice for utilities, who are well placed to retain and manage the risks associated with wind farm construction.”

• Hotel plan for landmark Perth city centre building

The former council chambers and district court, at the corner of Perth’s Tay Street and High Street, is being eyed up by developers who want to turn it into a boutique establishment.

Owner Perth and Kinross Council is now planning to offload the turreted B-listed property, which has fallen into disrepair over the decades and costs around £140,000 a year to maintain.

It follows a concerted effort by council officers to attract a major hotel chain to the city.

• Plans revealed for new Glasgow city centre primary school

A new £16 million primary school is in the pipeline to serve Glasgow’s city centre.

The scheme is at the very early stages but there are hopes concrete plans will be ready by this time next year.

Executive director of education Maureen McKenna said the new school, to potentially be sited at Laurieston, would help relieve pressure on busy primary schools in Govanhill.

• Gairnshiel bridge bid design firm appointed

A major project to replace an 18th Century bridge in Aberdeenshire has taken a significant step forward.

The Gairnshiel Bridge, a key part of the A939 road from Ballater to Tomintoul, has been beset with closures in recent years.

Despite an 18-tonne weight limit, drivers have repeatedly ignored the rules over the years, and other motorists have collided with its historic structure, which was not built to handle modern vehicles.

But last year, Aberdeenshire Council confirmed it would build a new bridge to the east of the existing crossing over the River Gairn, in order to preserve the Gairnshiel Bridge for future generations.

And a public contract issued by the local authority in September, seeking structural design services for a new bridge, has now been awarded to the Glasgow-based Arcadis Consulting.

The contract is worth as much as £213,982.

• New ten-screen multiplex cinema plans revealed for Edinburgh shopping centre

A ten-screen multiplex cinema will be heading to Cameron Toll if plans for the development are approved.

The Cameron Toll Community Neighbourhood Centre is already home to a large Sainsbury’s and 42 other retail units.

To be built as an extension to the existing centre, the cinema will be operated by Empire Cinemas and include three new leisure units which will be targeted at potential restaurant tenants.

• Consultation launched into offshore wind development

The Scottish Government has launched two key consultations to inform the pipeline of future offshore wind development in Scotland and improve understanding on its role in meeting ‘net zero’ targets.

Views are being sought on the draft Offshore Wind Policy Statement in addition to the much-anticipated draft Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy, which outlines how the Scottish Government proposes to maximise the opportunities that offshore wind presents, with due regard for the marine environment, other users of the sea, and planning responsibilities.

The draft Sectoral Marine Plan will inform the next round of seabed leasing for offshore wind in Scottish waters, being taken forward on Scottish Ministers’ behalf by Crown Estate Scotland.

• New planning application for Westway Retail Park

A further planning application has been submitted by the developers behind the proposed cinema, leisure and retail development at Westfield Retail Park.

North Lanarkshire Council approved planning permission in principle for the site back in June, however since then the Antonine Centre has raised a legal challenge.

As such Savills, acting on behalf of Dutch firm Promontoria Holdings, have submitted a second standalone application in an attempt to bypass the judicial review.