The City of Edinburgh Council has announced it has secured a retail occupier for its Grade A office development in the heart of the Exchange district, Atria Edinburgh.
The Co-operative Group has taken retail unit 2, comprising 1,725 sq ft of space located on the ground level of Atria One on Morrison Street, on a 15 year FRI lease. The business intends to use the unit as a convenience store.
Owned by millions of UK consumers, The Co-operative Group operates a total of 3,750 outlets, with more than 70,000 employees and an annual turnover of approximately £11 billion. Fit-out of the new Atria store has commenced with the opening likely to be in May.
Councillor Frank Ross, Economy Convener, said: “It is fantastic that we’ve managed to secure a national retailer like The Co-operative Group for our largest retail unit at Atria One.
“In addition to the office tenants in Atria One and Two, the wider Exchange district is home to around 10,000 workers. This, combined with the high quality retail units on offer at Atria One, gave The Co-operative the confidence to open another convenience store in the city centre.
“We are also in discussions with further occupiers for both retail and office space and hope to announce more new lettings soon.”
Atria Edinburgh is already home to tenants such as PwC, Brewin Dolphin, Aon, IBM and Green Investment Bank, and is one of the most sustainable and energy efficient properties in Edinburgh.
Ian Mason, regional acquisitions manager for The Co-operative Group in Scotland, said: “We are very excited to be announcing that we’re opening another convenience store in Edinburgh and that we’ve chosen Atria for it. A convenience store with a strong emphasis on fresh produce and food to go will enable us to build upon an established customer base and provide an even better service for the community. The location is ideal for us, and we are very confident the new store will be an asset to the Exchange district.”
JH Campbell Property Consultants acted for The Co-operative Group whilst the City of Edinburgh Council represented itself.
Retail unit 1, which extends to 1,436 sq ft and is located on Conference Square, is still available. Retail leasing enquiries should be directed towards Mark Bulloch at the City of Edinburgh Council.
Office space in both Atria One and Two remains available and is being marketed by joint letting agents JLL and Montagu Evans.