Creative Scotland is to relocate staff from its current Edinburgh office space early in the new year, and the planned move has been hailed as an “exciting step forward” in its efforts to support artistic endeavour throughout the country.
A 15-year lease agreement has been reached for the new offices at Waverley Gate, with a rent-free period built into the deal.
Both Creative Scotland and Montagu Evans, the firm looking to broker the letting of 130,000 square feet of new office space available at Waverley Gate, are reportedly very pleased with the recently reached agreement.
“We have secured exceptional value for money over the period of the lease,” said Creative Scotland’s chief executive, Andrew Dixon.
Meanwhile, Mike Irvine, a partner at Montagu Evans, commented: “Waverley Gate currently offers the best value for money of any office building in Edinburgh city centre.
“The quality of the specification, the property’s green credentials and its strategic location in the city centre have been key drivers in recent successes.”
Creative Scotland has made clear its intention to offer visiting creative professionals access to meeting rooms in its new offices and has noted that it will retain an office presence in the nearby Scottish city of Glasgow.
Last month, a deal was agreed for the online travel group thetrainline.com to move its staff into an area of grade-A office space in Edinburgh that had until recently been occupied by the insurance giant Standard Life.
Editor’s notes: In 2023, Creative Scotland remained in occupation at Waverley Gate at Waterloo Place next to Waverley train station and continues to support the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland in a variety of ways and by distributing funding from the Scottish Government and The National Lottery.
In February 2022, it was announced that the Waverley Gate office building had been purchased by property investment firm Kennedy Wilson for £78 million.
The building was occupied with tenants other than Creative Scotland, including Amazon, Microsoft and the NHS.
In July 2025, it was announced that energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie had signed a 15-year lease for 30,000 square feet of office space at Waverley Gate. The deal took Kennedy Wilson’s building to 95 per cent occupancy.
In January 2026, it was reported that Waverley Gate was to be sold, and it had been marketed at £85 million.