Before we proceed with this post, let us mention from the onset that we are
vested in this development but this is NOT an advertorial.
The wife and I first heard about the Quartermile project during the early part of last year and decided
to attend Singapore
road-show. We were so impressed with what we saw that we decided to put money down on a
one-bedroom apartment after only like 20 minutes!
1) The old and new towns of
However, the wife was primarily drawn to the project because of the architects - which we will come to later.
Quartermile is the marketing name given to the mixed use redevelopment of the
former Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh site in Lauriston within the city centre of Edinburgh. The project comprises a mixture of new
build apartments, apartments
converted from the existing hospital buildings, new build offices, affordable housings and retail/leisure facilities. Once
completed, Quartermile will contain more than 900 apartments, 350,000sqft
of Grade A office accommodation, 55,000sqft of retail and leisure space and 7
acres of open landscaping.
Now back to the architects: Quartermile is master-planned by
Foster + Partners, who is responsible for iconic designs including the Hong Kong
and Shanghai Bank, Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok airport and Singapore's very own South Beach
mixed use project in Beach Road .
The wife has some local knowledge about the UK and said that all the residential projects designed
by this firm have been very well-received.
The phase that we have bought into (which we would loosely termed as
phase 2) belongs to the City Meadows collection (Q23),
which consists of buildings that are newly build whereas the previous phase
have had a mixture of new buildings and conversion blocks. City Meadows comprises 98 apartments of which more than 90%
have already been sold and the apartments are expected to be completed and
ready for occupation by September this year.
The wife and I understand that the next phase (Q25) will consist of 104
apartments and this is expected to be launched internationally (Hong Kong and Singapore ) in
the later part of this year. Q25 is one of the two final buildings that faces
The Meadows.
There would be two other phases to be launched subsequently but these apartment buildings would be
located at Lister Square
which sits at the centre of Quartermile (refer to
master-plan) and the whole project is due to be fully completed by 2018.
Market
potential wise, we understand that apartments especially for rentals are in
very good demand due to limited supply of housing units within the city centre.
While the wife and I were quite nervy during the Scottish
Independence referendum last year, the residential market seems to have remained
really positive throughout, as reflected in the ESPC home report (http://www.espc.com/news/espc-house-price-report-may-2015)
which is worth the read if you are currently looking at residential property investment in Scotland .
Other than being
a high-quality project designed by a world renowned architectural firm and located
in a major financial city centre with high rental demands, what the wife and I are also
impressed about Quartermile is the excellent level of customer service that we
have received from the developer (Quartermile Management Developments) and also the appointed solicitor (Morton Fraser LLP). Unlike many of the other projects that we had
bought into previously, it is really a
pleasant surprise to receive regular updates throughout the construction stage
while our queries are always handled in a timely and professional manner. All
these have given us added confidence in the developer and the project. We were told during the road-show that many of Quartermile buyers were repeat customers from the earlier phase and we now understand the reason why! The wife
and I will especially like to convey our thanks to Stephanie, Katy and Christie
at Quartermile and Paula at Morton-Fraser for their dedications and assistance.
Do check out the Quartermile
website (http://www.qmile.com) as it is probably
one of the (if not THE) most comprehensive that we have ever come across from any developer both local and foreign!
The wife and I
are really looking forward to the completion of our apartment at City Meadows
in Quartermile
and are planning a visit to Edinburgh
to get a first-hand look at the project!
Good morning. Fantastic to hear about your purchase at Quartermile; it's an exciting development. I run Umega Lettings, one of the recommended letting agents for the development and we're lucky enough to see the development from our office a 5 minute walk across the park from Quartermile. If you are looking for any assistance renting out your property at Quartermile please do contact me at; andy@umega.co.uk and I would be delighted to assist. Best of luck! Andy
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