“We want to make sure that this iconic building is a lively presence at the beating heart of our community”

SAVING the building

For fuller information on the building, the process of saving it, and our vision and aims please see our previous webpage, but in summary:

Once it was clear Police Scotland were likely to sell the building, negotiations between Action Porty and Police Scotland began in early 2024. Community consultations, grant applications and much behind the scenes work then led to Police Scotland agreeing an Asset Transfer, and the Scottish Land Fund announcing in December 2025 that they were granting “£499,570 to Action Porty for the purchase of the former Portobello Police Station, in Edinburgh, through a Community Asset Transfer (CAT) from Police Scotland. The group will use the space to create new studios and workspaces for community organisations, community activities and artists in a central, high-street location.” This iconic building was transferred into community ownership on the 23rd March 2026.

six Key questions

1. How can I volunteer?

If you want to help bring the building to life, please email volunteering@actionporty.com to be notified of the next volunteer call-out. We've had such a brilliant response to our first call for help through our newsletter that we need to wait and see what more help we’ll need beyond the end of April. If you would prefer to donate to the refurbishment fund, or help in another way, do email us at heartofporty@gmail.com

2. How can I view inside?

There will be multiple chances to see inside with future community events.  The first tours will take place on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 April. Feel free to reserve a place on a free tour.

3. How soon will it be open?

We hope some anchor tenants will be in by June, and others in July. We're aiming for 80% occupancy by February 2027. We can’t have full public access until we’ve raised the funds to be able to make the necessary changes to make that possible.

4. Who will be in the building?

In line with our community consultations and our subsequent application, we are focusing on community organisations, youth focused activity and artists/ makers. We aim to have key community organisations as our anchor tenants, including organisations who’ve been part of securing the building for the community. This may include ArtWalk Porty, Porty Community Energy, Porty Community Media and Portobello High School. We will also invite applications for space from artists/ makers, and other compatible potential tenants.

5. What if I want a room in IT?

We’ll have an open process for people to apply to rent a room in the building. This process will open in April (with the invitation sent out in our newsletter and the link put here on our webpage) but with no decisions made before May. This will be mainly focused on artists/ makers. We hope such tenants will start to be in the building from July.

We are working to bring life to the High Street by turning an empty 27-room building into a vibrant hub where people come to work, be creative and head out to use the cafes and shops. We are not wanting to draw anyone away from existing provision but are wanting to offer something different.

6. What is distinct about it?

Where Bellfield, the Town Hall and the WashHouse have spaces which are used for multiple classes, workshops and events, we will be renting out individual rooms to individual  tenants (including individual organisations or groups). We will also be making sure our offering is distinct from any other local business.

So, as with the number of cafes on the Prom and their collectively being a magnet drawing in many more visitors, our intention is to approach this in a way that means that we work alongside existing community spaces - including the library and bookshops - to collectively make Portobello an even more attractive place for community, youth and creative action.