Revealed: Summerhall buyer is luxury developer embroiled in 20-year sports campus saga
Plus: Starmer 'snubs Edinburgh' at economic summit and Netlfix plaque protest
Preferred bidder is award-winning family firm, but concerns raised over its role in stalled Cramond project
The prospective new owner of Summerhall is Edinburgh-based AMA Homes who specialise in turning historic city buildings into luxury flats.
The Inquirer can reveal the award-winning family firm is the preferred bidder for the former Dick Vet School campus, home to the Summerhall ‘arts village’.
The proposed sale to a housebuilder - which we revealed on Friday - has fuelled fears for the long-term future of the venue, believed to be the largest privately-owned arts complex in Europe.
The complex off the Meadows is home to more than 110 arts and creative enterprises as well as being a popular Fringe and year-round venue.
AMA is known for converting a series of historic buildings in the Capital into high-end housing, including the former Marchmont School, and has won a series of major design awards for its work, including a prestigious Saltire Award.
However, its involvement in the long-running Cramond Campus saga has raised concerns about its ability to deliver on promises of ongoing arts facilities at Summerhall.
All the bidders, including AMA, have made proposals for continuing arts activity within the complex. However, sports facilities promised for the former Moray House campus at Cramond have still to be built more than 21 years after AMA was first granted planning permission to build there.
This has raised doubts within the McDowell family, who are selling Summerhall due to its growing financial challenges, about their suitability as buyers.
Who are AMA Homes? Brothers Ali and Mike Afshar set up the company more than 40 years ago after the family moved to Scotland from Iran. AMA is highly regarded as a developer of mainly small-scale residential developments, including on sensitive sites including within Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site. Based in Coates Crescent, it typically develops around 30 flats a year, making Summerhall one of its most ambitious projects.
Will it definitely be sold to AMA? No, not definitely. Cuthbert White, selling agents for the McDowall family-owned Oesselmann Estate Ltd, has confirmed a preferred bidder has been selected, with detailed talks due to take place with a view to confirming the sale. However, a source close to the McDowell family has told the Inquirer there are still reservations within the family about accepting AMA’s offer.
What about other bidders? There are three other bidders for the site, all of whom included proposals for a substantial on-going presence for the arts at Summerhall. None have yet been identified.
Cramond concerns: AMA has been working on a “sports-led” development at the former Moray House teacher training campus at Cramond and held a public consultation it latest proposals earlier this year. However, the council first granted AMA permission to build on the site in 2003, and the sports element has yet to be delivered. The plans have changed over the years in the face of local opposition and now include synthetic sports pitches and padel tennis courts.
Alarm bells: The source close to the McDowell family told the Inquirer: "There are significant reservations within the family about AMA’s ability to deliver on the arts side when you look at what has happened at Cramond. No one wants to be waiting 15 or 20 years for the arts facilities to be delivered.”
What happens next? The sellers are expected to start talks with AMA Homes in the coming days. It is unclear whether the reservations about AMA’s bid will prove significant enough to open the process up to other bidders.
AMA Homes declined to comment when contacted by the Inquirer.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
NO TO NETFLIX: Heritage charity the Cockburn Association is objecting to Netflix’s request to install a plaque celebrating the city’s connections to the streaming giant’s hits show One Day near the Grassmarket. Netflix wants to fit the red plaque on a historic tenement on the Vennel, off the Grassmarket, which offers an Instagrammable view of the castle. Terry Levinthal, director of the Cockburn Association, said the application was simply product-placement, adding Edinburgh only appear fleetingly in One Day.
HASTINGS TRIBUTE: Former Scotland rugby star Scott Hastings has spoken about his wife’s struggle with depression to mark World Mental Health Day. He paid tribute to Jenny, 60, whose body was found last month days after disappearing after going for a swim at the city’s Wardie Bray. He told the BBC: "She was such a beautiful, loving mother, wife, sister. We miss her dearly. When she was unwell it was so cruel to witness the distress that Jenny ended up in."
STARMER’S ‘CITY SNUB’: City council leader Cammy Day has written in protest to Keir Starmer after not being invited to a regional investment summit hosted in Edinburgh. The mayor’s of English cities including Andy Burnham attended the Council of Nations and Regions summit on Friday along with Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney. Day and representatives of Scotland’s other cities said they were being put “at an explicit commercial disadvantage” to their English counterparts.
CHURCH CAR PARK ROW: Colinton Church is facing protests over its plans to tarmac over a grassy area to create a car park to relieve pressure on parking spaces on the street. Lorna Slater, Green MSP for the Lothian region, who is supporting residents who have raised concerns, said "seemingly small application can build to have a large impact on the community's local biodiversity and access to green space."
BUS LANE CAMERA DAMAGE: Vandalism to Edinburgh’s bus lane cameras has cost the city £300,000 in the last year. Cameras enforcing a controversial bus gate in Corstorphine has been deliberately cut down in three separate attacks.
FOOTBALL ‘ULTRAS’: Dozens of masked young teenage football fans disturbed residents as they marched to Edinburgh City’s match with Spartans at Meadowbank on Saturday. Around 40 self-style ‘ultras’ banged drums, chanted and set off fireworks.
THE BUSINESS
Businesses want balance from UK Government Emplo yment Law Shake-up
Chambers of Commerce have described changes to employment law by the UK Government as “the biggest shake up of employment law in decades.” Jane Gratton, Deputy Director of Public Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, which includes Edinburgh Chamber, said: “These are huge changes and businesses must be engaged and supported on them every step of the way.
“If the right balance is struck then we have the potential to get more people into work and boost economic growth. But if the process is mishandled there is a danger these changes could have the opposite effect.”
The framework outlined in the intended legislation will require more consultation, with any major changes to business practices unlikely before 2026, she said, “but firms will want to see more detail on the timeline for these reforms and guarantees that there will be no surprises.”
Robert Holland, Head of Employment Law at Aberdein Considine based in Edinburgh said one of the major changes was “the much-rumoured removal of the two-year qualifying period has been enacted, meaning claiming unfair dismissal is now effectively a day one right for employees.”
He stressed there would be further consultation on the introduction of a new statutory probation period and the provision of a “light touch” right to dismiss during this period, and said the government would need to strike a “delicate balance” between protecting employees and ensuring the needs of employers are met.
“The Bill also provides a boost to those on zero hours contracts, including guaranteed hours and compensation for cancelled shifts, but falls short of an outright ban, which may disappoint some. But many workers – especially those in the gig economy, like delivery and taxi drivers – want, and even need, the flexibility of being able to check in and out of work as and when suits them. It will be interesting to see how such companies address the new requirements, to ensure these industries remain viable.”
STRONG RESULTS: Edinburgh-based contruction company and housebuilder The Cruden Group has returned solid results for the year to 31 March 2024. A profit of £2.6 million was achieved on improved turnover of £132 million. The group reports strong pipelines in both its construction and housebuilding arms for the year ahead, including new home developments in north Edinburgh and East and Mid Lothian.
GOING THE DISTANCE: Capital law firm Lindsays is hosting an interactive webinar ‘In conversation with Eilish McColgan’ on Wednesday 23 October at 12:00pm. The star distance runner, who is sponsored by the firm, will take part in a Q&A session with Ian Beattie MBE, Lindsays Chief Operating Officer and Chairman of UK athletics. Register Webinar Registration - Zoom
BONNIE WIN: The hugely successful Edinburgh food hall Bonnie & Wild has won an award for its role in championing Scottish food and drink producers. It was named Best for Scotland at the recent Scotland Food and Drink Awards. Judges praised Bonnie & Wild for using its Scottish Marketplace to showcase the best of Scottish hospitality.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
DUSHERRA SPECTACULAR: Dusherra, the flagship event of the Scottish Indian Arts Forum(SIAF), is being held on Saturday, 19 October, on top of Calton Hill, from 3pm onwards. This year’s Dusherra promises to be the most spectacular yet as SIAF marks its 30th anniversary with music, dance, mouth-watering food, a firework display and the dramatic burning of effigies, symbolising evil.
PENTLANDS BOOK FEST: Crime writer Lin Anderson, Fringe First winner Alan Bissett and former senior BBC correspondent Allan Little are among the star attractions at this year’s Pentlands Book Festival. Events gets underway across Colinton, Balerno and Juniper Green on Wednesday, 30 October, until 28 November.
OXTOBERFEST! A pop-up Bavarian bier halle is coming to Oxgangs on Saturday, 26 October, courtesy of the charity which runs the Pentland Community Centre. Barney’s, Cromarty, Moonwake, Pilot and Stewart Brewing will show off a range of their beers, while Fringe festival favourite On The Roll, based year-round on George Square, will supply authentic German Bratwurst alongside pretzels and pies by Oxgangs’ own Bald Baker. It is hoped Oxtober will become an annual events. Alex Schweitzer-Thompson, chair of the management committee of Pentland Community Centre, said: “The aim of the event is to offer entertainment and enjoyment, as well as an enriching cultural experience, to a diverse range of people across our service area. In time, we have plans to expand the event to more fully showcase local businesses and producers and ensure there are events across the weekend for all ages and tastes.”
QUICK BITES
TOP DOGS: Twenty Princes Street in Hotel Indigo on Princes Street, has won a Trip Advisor Travellers’ Choice Award, placing it in the top 10% of restaurants across the globe. The award is made based on customer reviews.
FORT KINNAIRD CLOSURE: Edinburgh’s TGI Fridays restaurants are to be halved. The outlet at Fort Kinnaird is to close permanently, but the Castle Terrace site will remain open, one of six in Scotland. The chain’s UK operation fell into administration last month and more than 1000 staff in the UK have been made redundant despite a rescue deal being struck.