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Spring 2022

Developer Osborne+Co and the build-to-rent company Moda Living have acquired the Edinburgh site occupied by paper and cardboard manufacturer Saica.

The partners plan 1,000 homes on the 15.5-acre site at the Maybury junction, aim to submit plans to the council within the next 12 months. The development has an estimated value of £350m and will be a mix of studio, one- two- and three-bedroom apartments alongside townhouses.

Spain-headquartered Saica announced in February 2020 that it would relocate to a purpose-built facility in Livingston.

Its regional director, Adam Haycock, said: “When it came to assessing the multiple bids received for this site, Saica selected Moda and Osborne due to the consortium’s commitment to creating a new neighbourhood with appropriate amenities and infrastructure.”

Saica will be Moda’s second major development site in Edinburgh and fourth in Scotland, making it the country’s largest build-to-rent developer operator.

Last month, the 500-home Moda, The McEwan on the site of the former Fountainbridge brewery, welcomed its first residents. Osborne+Co has also acquired several sites in Glasgow.

The Saica development is the third between Moda and Osborne+Co. Outline planning has been submitted for Lancefield Quay in Glasgow for 730 units, which will breathe new life into a city centre site that has been vacant for more than seven years.

Last year the JV also announced plans to develop a mixed-use campus at Belfast Waterside, transforming a key strategic city centre site with more than 600 residential units and 1m sq ft of office space.

Savills acted for Saica Packaging.

The consultation will begin shortly and the plan may prove contentious in view of intensive housing developments already underway and planned along Maybury Road. Taylor Wimpey, Miller Homes, Cala and David Wilson Homes are already on-site and a further plan is with local planners.

While developers promote the tram and bus links, the community is concerned about the build-up of road traffic in the area.

A plan for 1,350 homes off the nearby Gogarburn roundabout by Murray Estates has also just been approved by the Scottish government.

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