A colourful Edinburgh entrepreneur plans luxury underground car parking in the heart of Broughton.
Gorodskoy Kòsmónavt (55) means to convert vacant voids and vaults below the road surface of Mansfield Place into an exclusive 2-storey complex with 150 parking spaces, luxury valeting and high-speed electric-vehicle charge points.
Private toilets and recycling facilities complete the package.
Access is proposed by ramps penetrating the unused central part of the carriageway (see foot of page). Test-trenches have already established the scheme’s viability.
Subscribers will pay as yet undisclosed ‘premium prices for premium services’.
‘Obvious merits’
Mr Kòsmónavt says his proposition has obvious merits:
- Local residents – tired of having their cars vandalised or ‘deflated’ – will enjoy the comfort of secure off-street parking.
- Removing SUVs and other high-end vehicles from the ciytyscape will improve the appearance and character of the New Town Conservation Area and Edinburgh World Heritage Site, and free up room for visiting tradespeople.
- Guaranteed availability of super-fast EV-charge points will encourage responsible car owners who care about the environment.
- Additional city-centre spaces will reduce competition for, and congestion around, parking places below the St James Quarter.
Going underground
Moscow-born Kòsmónavt arrived in London in 1997, from where he expanded his Ya Ne Sushchestvuyuin Group – providing ancillary entertainment solutions – across the UK and mainland Europe. He settled in Edinburgh and purchased the £2m Mansfield Place townhouse he now calls home 6 years later.
It was while extending cellars here to create a spa, gym and cinema/games rooms that he first discovered the vaults adjacent.
They were, Kòsmónavt learned, constructed in the 19th century to level a steep declivity between the site of today’s roundabout and the east end of Bellevue Crescent.
The green-fingered businessman recognised that such subterranean chambers offered ideal growing conditions for mushroom, truffle and other specialist cultivation platforms. The successful farm he set up to realise that potential has since supplied outlets across the UK for nearly 20 years, with most locals never suspecting it was there.
However, market conditions have changed. With energy prices drastically increasing production costs over recent months, the self-styled ‘Captain Adaptable’ believes the time is right to refocus.
Consultation
Agents associated with Kòsmónavt's development consultancy will share detailed outline ideas later this month in a pre-planning-application, charrette-type, informal consultation-style experience at Broughton St Mary’s Parish Church. All are welcome. There will be vodka.
‘It’s a monstrous idea,’ says one London Street neighbour who claims to represent local opinion but prefers to remain anonymous. ‘It’s not just car-centric – it's naked exploitation, by a man of questionable character, for private profit.’
‘That’s wrong,’ counters Mr Kòsmónavt. ‘I am the good guy for Edinburgh, the man with vision. Small people say “exploitation”, I say “opportunity”.’
Does he expect much opposition to his scheme from residents, officials or politicians?
‘Maybe. I don’t care. First we explain, then we persuade.’
Got a view? Tell us at spurtle@hotmail.co.uk and @theSpurtle
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