UNITE adds to Edinburgh student flat tally

EDINBURGH is set for a new £30 million student accommodation development.

The UNITE Group – the UK’s largest provider of student hospitality and accommodation – has acquired a 0.85-acre site on Chalmers Street, next to the former Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI) at the Quartermile development.

UNITE has planning consent for 251 student bedrooms on the site, which was purchased from the NHS following the ERI’s move outside of the city

centre. The accommodation will consist of three, four and five bedroom flats, plus 35 single studios, and will be completed by September 2009.

It is the latest deal brokered by DTZ for UNITE, including the acquisition of a site in Edinburgh’s Shrubhill Place in April.

Nationwide, UNITE provides beds for some 38,000 students in 29 towns and cities across the UK, including 437 en-suite study rooms and studios in four properties in Edinburgh. A further property, comprising 135 beds, is due to open in September in the capital’s McDonald Road.