CONSTRUCTION is complete on the first phase of the transformation of Midsteeple Quarter in Dumfries.
The first residents have started moving into the flats created at the community-owned High Street building now known as The Standard.
Work on the community and enterprise hub which sits beneath them has been the final piece of the landmark project to have been completed in recent days, ready for people to start using those spaces.
This marks the most significant milestone yet in the organisation’s long-term mission to create a new neighbourhood following a trailblazing community campaign for residents to buy this site and five other nearby properties.
Robert Richmond, chair of Midsteeple Quarter, said: “This is a community-owned building unlike any other in Dumfries. We are incredibly excited about what the future holds.
“Its completion marks the dawn of a new era for our town centre, where people return to living in quality, homes sitting above spaces which encourage entrepreneurship by giving people, enterprises and organisations affordable opportunities to have their own home on the High Street too.”
Kathryn Hill, Midsteeple Quarter’s interim executive director, added: “The Standard is the first step towards making our town centre not just a place where people work or visit, but one where they live, meeting demand for new homes and injecting fresh life into the area.
“What’s more, it’s a site not controlled by faceless owners, but the community through our members. Every decision we make has the best interest of the town at its heart.”
The seven flats for rent are the first new homes on the High Street in living memory, with many offering amazing views across the town.
Construction of the £7.3 million project, which was supported by the Scottish Government, South of Scotland Enterprise, Dumfries and Galloway Council and the Holywood Trust, has taken just over two years to complete.
Work was carried out by RH Irving Construction.
