Edinburgh Council set to pay up for incomplete St James Quarter
Councillors to vote on paying American developers for the work
Edinburgh City Council bosses are set to pay out £56.4m to the developers of the St James Quarter, despite the project being incomplete.
Nuveen, an American asset management company, has asked to be paid £61.4m for the St James Quarter, even though the cinema within the centre is still not operational, and landscaping works on Leith Street, St James Square, Elder Street and Cathedral Lane/Little King Street have yet to be completed.
Nuveen were set to be paid the full £61.4m when they had achieved three objectives: 50% of the retail and leisure element must be open for business; ‘a statement of practical completion’ must be submitted for the retail and leisure sections; and another statement of practical completion must be submitted for the rest of the work.
Cinema still not open
However, the company has not met the second objective, as the cinema is still not complete, and according to council officers the third objective is ‘open to interpretation’ as there are still outstanding works.
Despite this, a report set to go before councillors at Thursday’s full council meeting urges councillors to approve paying Nuveen £56.4m, with £5m held back as a contingency to make sure the outstanding works are completed.
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