Downing Group has agreed to purchase the current Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.

The developer will acquire the 4.01-acre site next year when patients and staff move to a new £150 million Hospital at Little France next year.

The 1.62 hectare site is located in the Marchmont, Meadows and Bruntsfield conservation area and includes a range of listed properties. Ownership is split over NHS Lothian and Edinburgh and the Lothians Health Foundation charity.

Downing is currently in the process of creating a mixed-use proposal for the site.

Jacquie Campbell, Chief Officer for Acute Services, NHS Lothian said: "The decision to move the services from the current site and dispose of the site was not an easy one to make. The legacy of the Royal Hospital for Sick Kids dates back to 1863 and since 1895 the hospital at Sciennes Road has been home to thousands of children and their families in the building many have grown to call 'the sick kids'.

"Although the site has a developer lined up to take ownership of the site, patients and their families can rest assured that no changes will be made to the current facilities until they are set to move to the their new location in the £150m Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Little France next year."

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David Fraser, partner with Ryden, adviser to NHS Lothian said: “The property was put up for sale in November 2016 and naturally generated a great deal of interest which resulted in 21 formal bids being received in early 2017.

"After carefully consideration, six bidders were invited to provide additional clarifications whereby the Downing Groups was selected as preferred bidder."

Jim Crombie, Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Lothian said: "It has been a competitive process but the prospective purchaser showed keen interest in the important legacy for the site through their proposed mixed use development which will also provide significant capital support to the new hospital. Downing is still formulating their detailed plans and we anticipate further community engagement will take place as the developer prepares their planning applications."

However, community group Marchmont and Sciennes Development Trust (MSDT) said they were disappointed their community buy-out plans for the site were not considered.

"Our application was thought of by many as an 'acid test' for the new urban Community Right to Buy laws, and we feel gutted, as will many people in the community, that we did not get the chance to have our application considered and to show how it would work," the organisation said.

"Affordable co-operative housing, healthcare, additional school and nursery facilities, space for social enterprises and a multi-purpose community hall were among the ideas being put forward from community members via our group. The reality of the NHS decision is that, of these sorts of community benefit proposals, only the bare legal minimum is likely to happen now.

"We really feel that the Scottish Government and Holyrood must look seriously at the string of technical challenges brought up, and delays well beyond timescales that the legislation states, in order to help other communities make more effective use of this law in the future."

(LM/MH)