History
The development was built by Teague Homes Ltd on the site of the old Ferranti factory between Robertson Avenue, Stewart Terrace, and Gorgie Road.
Marketed as Shandon Apartments, building work commenced at the southern end of the site in 1997 with Sinclair Close completed first. Sinclair Gardens followed in 1998, then Sinclair Place and Gorgie Road during 1998 – 2001.
The townhouses were converted as part of a separate project by Grigor Homes at the same time as the main development.
The original title deeds were recorded between 1998 and 1999, covering the properties numbered 1-6, 18-20, and 24-32 Sinclair Place, 1-6 Sinclair Close, 1-5 Sinclair Gardens, 4 Stewart Terrace and 235, 241, and 247 Gorgie Road.
There are 332 flats in the development (292 in the Sinclair Development and 40 in the Gorgie Development), with an additional 14 town-houses at 7-17 and 21-23 Sinclair Place occupying the lone remaining original building: the listed building that was originally the McVitie and Price biscuit factory, backing onto Robertson Avenue.
Factors
When the development was completed, Teague appointed a Factor (as was their duty as developer). The Title Deeds require that a general meeting of proprietors be held every year, to dismiss and re-appoint the Factor and discuss any other business for the development. Prior to 2011, AGM’s were held on a couple of occasions organised by the original Factor.
In September 2011, a general meeting was called for the sole purpose of forming a proprietors committee to provide organisation amongst the proprietors and fulfil the obligations of the Title Deeds.
Up until 2011, the development was factored and maintained as a single development – called the “Shandon Development”. This development comprised 332 flats in 33 stairwells across Stewart Terrace, Gorgie Road, Sinclair Place, Sinclair Close and Sinclair Gardens.
However, this arrangement was not strictly speaking correct. Inspection of the Title Deeds concerning the flats and townhouses revealed that in fact the properties involved were part of two separate developments.
One development comprised the flats in Sinclair Place, Sinclair Close and Sinclair Gardens – 292 flats as well as the 14 townhouses numbered 7-17 and 21-23 Sinclair Place.
The other development comprised the flats in 4 Stewart Terrace and 235, 241 & 247 Gorgie Road – 40 flats as well as 8 shop units on the ground floor which face onto Gorgie Road.
For conciseness, the two developments are referred to as the Gorgie Development and the Sinclair Development.
The two developments are separate in terms of Title Deeds, despite the fact that the flats were built by the same original developer and that they had shared a Factor since the development was originally built. Also, the townhouses, constructed/converted by Grigor Homes, form part of the Sinclair Development but due to an oversight were not involved in the factoring arrangement until August 2011.
Since the matters outlined have been addressed, the Sinclair Development (292 flats and 14 townhouses) and Gorgie Development have been factored as separate entities as per the Title Deeds. Aspect (formerly McBride) factored the Sinclair Development from 2000 to 2013 followed by DCPM between 2013 and 2017. Myreside Management factored the development from May 2017 until November 2021 with Trinity Factors taking over the current contract in December 2021.
A map of the development can be found here: Sinclair Estate Plan