Developers have announced plans to build a £40 million housing and retail scheme on the site left from demolishing a notorious Aberdeen council estate.
First Endeavour LLP has confirmed it intends to take over nearly seven acres of ground around the Manor and Logie areas and build 251 homes.
The flats currently at the site are boarded up and the residents have been moved in advance of the properties’ imminent demolition by the council and the Scottish Government.
A £30 million link road will be built to take pressure off the controversial Haudagain roundabout – once dubbed the worst route in Europe – when the long-awaited AWPR is completed this year.
The so-called Haudagain bypass will be financed by Transport Scotland and will allow motorists to drive from North Anderson Drive directly to Auchmill Road.
Around 46% of children in east Middlefield live below the poverty line, while residents can also expect to live seven years less than people in more affluent areas according to the Aberdeen locality plans published last year.
Average income in the area is around £17,442 a year compared to the city’s average of £30,735.
Now, First Endeavour want to build hundreds of new affordable homes on the site, including 14 three-bedroom houses, alongside a health centre, community centre, shops, a play area, nursery and a police station.
Around half of the seven acres will be green space.
It is hoped the proposals will breathe new life into the area and attract nurses and teachers who have been put off by the historically high cost of living in the north-east.
A planning application has yet to be submitted, but a spokesman for First Endeavour said they expected to create around 200 full-time construction jobs during the course of the development.
He added: “We want to change the perceptions of this area and affordable housing generally.
“It’s our plan to build homes that look as good as private homes and have the same low running costs and standards.
“This would be ideal for key workers such as people who work at the hospital, because affordable rents are now where the demand is at in the city.”
