{"id":636593,"date":"2025-12-16T19:29:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T19:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/636593\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T19:29:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T19:29:11","slug":"student-flat-developer-in-talks-to-buy-former-scottish-widows-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/636593\/","title":{"rendered":"Student flat developer in talks to buy former Scottish Widows office"},"content":{"rendered":"

A student accommodation developer is in \u201cadvanced discussions\u201d to purchase the former Scottish Widows headquarters on Dalkeith Road.<\/p>\n

The offices, which have been vacant since late 2020, will\u00a0reportedly be\u00a0bought by Vita Student, which owns several\u00a0purpose-built\u00a0student\u00a0accommodation (PBSA) blocks in Edinburgh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Vita Group spokesperson\u00a0today (TUE)\u00a0said: \u201cVita Group is in advanced discussions\u00a0regarding\u00a0the potential acquisition of 15 Dalkeith Road.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf successful, Vita Group intends to deliver a mixed-use redevelopment broadly aligned with the site\u2019s existing planning consent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Real estate agent JLL, which is overseeing the sale of the former offices on Dalkeith Road, declined to officially comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Jason Hogg, who heads the Edinburgh branch of the company, said \u201cdiscussions were happening with the client\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hogg declined to\u00a0state\u00a0the identity of the client.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"glass<\/a>The offices were vacated in late 2020.<\/p>\n

The PBSA giant currently runs two separate student accommodation blocks in Edinburgh, with one in Fountainbridge and another on Iona Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A new build in Sibbald Walk, dubbed \u201cNew Waverley\u201d,\u00a0will open its doors in September 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Vita Student does\u00a0indeed\u00a0purchase\u00a0the former offices, it will\u00a0likely need\u00a0council approval for a change of use to the property.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

City councillors had approved plans in 2023 to demolish the building to make way for 174 flats and premium office space.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, developers Schroders Capital Real Estate\u00a0subsequently\u00a0pulled the plug on the scheme, and the site was put back on the market.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There has been significant controversy over the growing number of student accommodation blocks in Edinburgh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last month, a proposal of application notice was\u00a0submitted\u00a0for a new \u00a3200m development in Fountainbridge, which would include a PBSA as well as residential flats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The company responsible for the proposal, The Social Hub, runs\u00a0a similar development in Glasgow.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It would become the fifth PBSA in Fountainbridge, which already includes Vita Student, Unite Students, and two Edinburgh Napier University student blocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A student accommodation developer is in \u201cadvanced discussions\u201d to purchase the former Scottish Widows headquarters on Dalkeith Road.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,41206,32558,16,15,196325],"class_list":{"0":"post-636593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-scottish-widows","13":"tag-student-accomodation","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-vita-student"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115730912869985638","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}