Occupants surprised by plans to demolish eyesore offices

Developers are bidding to bulldoze a city-centre office block labelled one of Edinburgh's worst eyesores.

- by Ian Swanson

Argyle House has long been seen as one of the worst eyesores in the city

Planners at Edinburgh council have received a Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) for demolition of Argyle House in Castle Terrace, which is currently home to tech incubator CodeBase, followed by redevelopment of the site for residential, hotel and office use.

But it is understood CodeBase—which had just negotiated a one-year renewal of its lease—had no prior warning of the plans and had to scramble to issue messages of reassurance to the 80-plus small businesses based there.