FROM high in the air it looks like a collection of modest sheds and boxes, but the biggest retail park in the UK is being assembled on the south side of Edinburgh.
Pillar Properties owns both Kinnaird Park and Edinburgh Fort, which lie close to each other just off the city by-pass at Newcraighall.
Pillar has since acquired two pieces of land which would allow the developer to link the two sites, creating one huge retail park.
The latest acquisition consists of the 93,000sq ft Eastern Industrial Estate, which was purchased in April in a #5.33m deal. It is now widely expected that Pillar will apply for a change of use from industrial to retail warehousing.
Such a move could follow the development of another linking site acquired in November. The five-acre plot is known as Kinnaird Phase II and has consent for for some 75,000sq ft of retail warehousing.
Work is poised to start on an upgrading of the Kinnaird Park Phase I site which is now several years old. The nearby units at Edinburgh Fort are attracting record rentals. A recent deal with retailer Sport and Soccer achieved #30 per sq ft - the highest price paid for retail park space in Scotland.
''Edinburgh Fort has enjoyed phenomenal success. It is trading above all expectations, - and shows no sign of slowing,'' says Niall Macdonald of letting agents Jones Lang Wootton.
Meanwhile, Chartwell Land is developing a 100,000sq ft B&Q warehouse on a site adjacent to Kinnaird Park.
The #4m building contract has been awarded to Tarmac. Chartwell Land is retaining the completed development, worth some #16m, in its investment portfolio.
The existing 70,000sq ft B&Q is on the market through Eric Young & Co.
Chartwell Land has lodged additional retail planning applications on two sites, totalling some 215,000sq ft, immediately adjacent to the new B&Q.
The developer is hoping to gain 'open' planning consent, given Kinnaird Park's status as 'strategic shopping centre' in the Lothian Region Structure Plan.
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