Edinburgh BioQuarter, home to some of Scotland’s leading life sciences companies, has unveiled its vision for a £750m investment which will support an estimated 9,000 new jobs.
The transformation plans to accelerate the development of the BioQuarter and create Edinburgh’s Health Innovation District includes plans for residential housing, a hotel, gym and retail and leisure facilities.
The 160-acre BioQuarter site, three miles South of Edinburgh city centre, is currently home to 8,000 people and includes 13 life sciences businesses based at its Innovation Centre, including GSK, Concept Life Sciences, LifeArc, Aquila, RoslinCT, Fios Genomics and CALCIVIS.
BioQuarter’s partners - City of Edinburgh Council, NHS Lothian, Scottish Enterprise and the University of Edinburgh - have already invested over £500m in the existing site, with a further £300m investment planned in the next five years through pipeline projects, including the new £68m University of Edinburgh Usher Institute.
Commenting on the vision for the new BioQuarter, Hugh Edmiston, Chair of Edinburgh BioQuarter Strategy Board, said: “This is the start of an exciting journey in the next chapter of Edinburgh BioQuarter’s development. As we move ahead, we want to ensure that we involve our staff, students and the local communities in this long-term vision.
“The opportunities here are vast and, once realised, can deliver significant and long lasting economic and social benefits for Edinburgh, Scotland and beyond.
Once completed the new vision could deliver one of the largest single developments in the UK focussed on life sciences innovation, health care delivery, medical research and teaching.
Interim Programme Director Anna Stamp said: “We want to build on the success to date of the BioQuarter. Our plans are to create a vibrant new neighbourhood of Edinburgh centred around a world-leading community of healthcare innovators. By developing at scale and at pace together with a private sector partner we will accelerate solutions to global health challenges .
“It is vital that BioQuarter develops as a welcome and accessible place for those who live around it, as well as those who work or study here. We can do this by fostering a inclusive environment which promotes wellbeing to create a welcoming place where people live, learn, work, play, relax and discover as part of Edinburgh’s Health Innovation District.”
