Knight Frank’s student property team acted on behalf of Rockspring in the sale, which reflects gross development value on completion of a planned £14m refurbishment.

The former office building has planning consent to be converted into a 53,162 sq ft, 138-bedroom studio scheme to meet demand from 45,000 full time students unable to access university or private sector accommodation in Edinburgh.

The property is at 8 Hillside Crescent, less than a mile from the University of Edinburgh’s ‘Central Area’ and Edinburgh city centre. The accommodation is arranged over six floors.

Knight Frank partner Rachel Candelaria said: “Demand for office conversions in strong regional cities is currently very hot, with this sale seeing a number of underbidders for the building.

“Properties such as this present an opportunity for redundant office space to be revitalised and brought back in to use, often where the core commercial market has migrated to other areas of the city.”