Parabola seeks £300m for Scotland’s largest BTR scheme

Parabola is to launch the sale of Scotland’s largest build-to-rent opportunity, seeking £300m for the 1,180-flat development at Edinburgh Park. The developer has instructed Cushman & Wakefield to secure a single funding partner by the end of the year. Parabola has been soft-marketing the BTR sale through discussions with developers for the last year, and will officially bring the opportunity to the market in the coming weeks. The firm lodged plans in May for the wider 1,737-home development, said to be the largest scheme in Edinburgh in a decade. It comprises 19 buildings with a mix of private sale, BTR and affordable housing. The BTR homes are split over two sites. Eight buildings on two plots from HTA Design on the northern site will include 800 homes and 100,000 sq ft of amenity space. Initial proposals incorporate co-working, a lounge, gym, games room, studio space, a roof terrace, allotments, roof gardens and a large podium garden. A single larger building of 380 homes at the southern end of the site is built around two courtyard gardens, designed by Sutherland Hussey Harris. The BTR portion includes 274 intermediate rent units to be pepper-potted throughout the scheme. This will be offered at 40% discount to market rent, and will revert to market rent after 25 years. The zero-carbon quarter at Edinburgh Park will include a large public park, play areas and landscaped gardens, as well as 350,000 sq ft of commercial space and a 170-bed aparthotel. The planning application will go to committee on 25 November. Richard Turner, residential investment partner at Cushman & Wakefield said: “The BTR proposals at Edinburgh Park are obviously designed to respond carefully to the increasing weight of institutional capital looking to invest in the sector, but perhaps more important is its relevance to the people of Edinburgh, a thriving city with acute housing need, particularly in the affordable sector.” Tony Hordon, managing director at Parabola, added: “This has been considerable years in the planning, extensive research across the UK and Europe and of course working with City of Edinburgh Council.” He descried Edinburgh Park as “a new urban quarter with a feel, quality and arts programme which we have taken from our travels across Europe –  what we hope will be a European exemplar in mixed use design and place”’. Parabola has owned the undeveloped land to the south of the existing Edinburgh business park since 2013. Last year it received the green light for the speculative office development at 1 New Park Square, the country’s first carbon-free speculative office, which is due to complete in 2021. The developer is led by Peter Millican, who built King’s Place at King’s Cross and sold it to Deka for £235m in 2012. BTR in Scotland has to date focused on far smaller city centre schemes. As investors and operators gain confidence in the market with commitments from Get Living, L&G and Platform_, schemes have grown in size and expanded to more out-of-town locations. The opportunity at Edinburgh Park has attracted particular interest from international funds, which view it as an at-scale entrance to the market. A number of funds have also highlighted the sector’s resilience and demand for rental housing in a downturn, making it more attractive than other assets post-pandemic. To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette Image courtesy of PR