A £45m leisure complex, set to open off Edinburgh's Royal Mile, is expected to become a commercial destination for the city.

The project, which is due to be completed by June, will see one of Edinburgh's historic lanes of Advocate's Close transformed. A total of 29 apartments, up to five restaurants, a bar and a new office space is to be completed on the site.

The development has been built across a mix of 11 tightly packed buildings that includes a new 208-room hotel from German chain Motel One, and the commercial development is due to open in time for this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

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The Chris Stewart Group is the developer behind the project and they want the project to be used as a model for injecting life into lanes connected to the Royal Mile.

Last month, city leaders released a blueprint for Edinburgh’s historic street, with proposals to make the Mile more pedestrian-friendly to benefit tourists, traders and residents as well as to encourage commercial ventures other than "tartan tat".

The Advocate’s Close redevelopment, situated opposite St Giles’ Cathedral, was started in 2009 and has been built across about 140,000sq ft of floor space.

The transformation work has been achieved without using large cranes or heavy plant machinery in what is believed to be a first for a major regeneration project in the Old Town.

(JP)