Edinburgh is set for luxury Calton Hill apartments on the site of a historic leper hospital.
Edinburgh council validated a proposal from the developers, Kerwick Limited, to build the new apartments looking onto Calton Hill.
The plush new apartment block will contain ‘19 new residential flats, cycle parking provision, associated works and infrastructure.’
The site is located at 5-6 Marshall’s Court to the north-east of the city centre.
Most of the new flats will be two-bedroom but there will be a small amount of one and three bed options.
The site historically formed part of the grounds of the Monastery of Carmelite Friars, established in 1526 and subsequently became Greenside Hospital for lepers in 1591. The hospital appears to have ceased use around 1650.
The leper hospital was just next to Edinburgh's gallows, in an area known as the Hangman’s Acre.
Today the area lies derelict and the developers believe it is prime location for redevelopment.
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It is unknown when exactly the buildings at Marshall’s Court were demolished, however the site’s most recent use was as a car park until February 2008.
To the north of the site is an existing five-storey tenement running along Greenside End and along the eastern boundary of the site is a four-storey office building, Nucleus Financial on Greenside Row.
The new apartments would be family friendly, with St Mary’s RC Primary School and Drummond Community High School nearby and Waverley Station within walking distance.
The developers say on the planning application that they have been in extensive discussions with Edinburgh council and believe the proposal meets all standards.
They said: “A sense of place will be created through positive frontage overlooking the Marshall’s Court and Greenside Row and key gables addressing key vistas within the proposal. New homes will meet varying needs of all potential future occupants.
“Materials will be selected to compliment existing buildings in the local area, whilst also providing the proposed development with its own character to create a sense of place.
“The proposal has been designed to meet with all national and local design requirements. It provides high quality new homes within a very sustainable location.”
The City of Edinburgh Council will make a decision on the application in the coming weeks.
