Intercontinental

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) has signed a deal with Tiger Developments to build a 17-storey 192-room InterContinental Hotel in Edinburgh due to open in 2013.

The deal will see IHG bring its InterContinental brand to Scotland for the first time.

Tiger’s £250 million vision to transform the Haymarket – one of Edinburgh’s most neglected city centre sites – into a thriving hotel and commercial quarter was called in by Ministers, having been approved by City of Edinburgh planners in June 2008. The proposals for the site are set to be discussed at a public inquiry later this year. John Nesbitt, Managing Director of Tiger Developments, described the deal as “good news for us and good news for Edinburgh” saying it would significantly improve Edinburgh’s top class hotel offering.

“This hotel is fundamental to the commercial viability of the Haymarket scheme. It will be a high profile landmark building for the area which is crying out for new investment and high quality development. Overall, The Haymarket will be of immense benefit to Edinburgh by transforming a strategic site which has remained derelict for 40 years into a vibrant new quarter.”

Edinburgh-based practices Richard Murphy Architects, CDA, and Sutherland Hussey were enlisted by Tiger Developments to draw up designs for The Haymarket. Richard Murphy Architects is architect for the hotel element of the development, which comprises one of the last major gap sites in central Edinburgh and is strategically important, being close to the Exchange and adjacent to Haymarket Station.
Tiger’s plans include 342,000ft2 of office space providing a natural expansion to the Exchange financial district. A boulevard lined with cafés and shops is planned for the centre of the site, extending from Morrison Street to Dalry Road, forming a pedestrian thoroughfare linking Haymarket and the Exchange.

www.tigerdevelopments.com