Commercial Finance Specialists

An innovative method of financing will be used by Edinburgh City Council to fund a commercial development in the city.

Edinburgh City Council is planning to use a pioneering method of funding in order to finance a commercial development in the Scottish capital.

Tax increment financing (Tif) was thought-up in the US, allowing local authorities to borrow cash against future increases in business rates, in order to make improvements that will generate those increases.

The council wants to work with commercial development firm Forth Ports, in order to develop a 400-acre brownfield site into commercial and residential property.

If this is a success, it could open the door for local authorities across the UK to invest in new infrastructure despite massive public spending cuts.

The City Council has told the Scottish Parliament that this innovative financing option is the only hope for the short-term future of the project.

"Without such investment there is a real risk that the development of Edinburgh’s waterfront could be delayed for a considerable period," the council said.

Real Estate agent Jones Lang LaSalle recently announced that a commercial property formerly occupied by Edinburgh City Council has just gone on the market to provide one property investment firm with a "world class" development opportunity.

Posted by Tess Nelson