DEVELOPERS of the controversial Craighouse development will pocket £17m in profit according to forecasted figures.
The Craighouse Partnership – which has just tabled fresh-look plans – is locked in a bitter battle with opposing campaigners to transform the former Napier University campus into homes.
Its £96m plan to build 189 units has a planned construction fee of £79m – leaving developers £17m.
Sources close to the project say the end profit is “probably less than initially hoped for a project of such a scale”.
However, what is hoped is that the new-look plans will be agreeable to opponents and planners alike.
The re-booted project has been scaled back in some areas.
An eight-storey tower at the top of the site has been reduced to five.
The plans also show how 64 units will be created by converting seven existing A-listed buildings following extensive negotiations between the developer and city planners.
There will also be 125 new-build high end properties. Previous plans submitted by the consortium – comprised of Sundial Properties, Mountgrange Investment and the university – featured just 89 new-builds.
Willie Gray Muir, of bespoke home builders Sundial, believes the rise is justified following a move away from street-bound family homes towards “less land hungry” high-quality flats.
Critics have long questioned the financial case for building the new houses while raising concerns about the design, public access and loss of open space.
Despite the changes, Green councillor Gavin Corbett believes the plan is still “hardly likely to find favour locally”.
He said: “While we may have more detail on the financial case for such over-development, that simply highlights that development of the listed buildings alone would give a profit of £1.2 million. In effect, the developers are asking for planning consent to build new homes to raise the profit from £1.2 million to over £17 million. I don’t believe that it is the job of planning system to maximise developer profit.
“No-one wants to see the A-listed buildings at Craighouse brought into viable use more than me. But I do not believe that this is the right way forward.”
However Mr Gray Muir remains hopeful that these revised plans will receive a more positive reaction from locals.
He said: “We’ve made every effort to take into account the concerns of local people, and the revised scheme reflects this particularly by ensuring that as much of the open space is untouched as possible. ”
1200 objections
MORE than 1200 objections have so far been lodged against the Craighouse plans.
University chiefs vacated the site in June, leaving workmen to move in and board up the historic listed buildings. Property prices on the site will range from £150,000 to £1.5m. Buyers will be afforded the last word in luxury, say developers.