A private building developer from Glasgow has proposed a new restaurant development as well as four upper floor flats for former retail storefronts and offices on Princes Street.
139 and 139a Princes Street was formerly The Edinburgh Woolen Mill and Pride of Scots, which both sold tourist souvenirs. Vacant offices currently occupy the first, second and third floors.
The commercial real estate website, Novaloca, previously listed the property at £2.7million in 2020, and the planning application implies that the retail unit has been vacant for a while with limited interest.
At the end of July, Hazledene Homes Limited submitted plans to Edinburgh’s City Council to transform the storefront space into a restaurant and the upper floor offices into four flats.
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According to planning drawings submitted to the council, the proposed changes will see the development of new restaurant spaces with two studio apartments proposed for the first floor and two-bedroom apartments planned for the second and third floors.
“The ground floor units at 139 Princes Street have been actively marketed for a prolonged period and failed to attract any retail interest due to an unsuitable location and the space not suiting any modern retail business,” the application argued.
“Moreover, the impacts on the retail market from the Covid-19 pandemic, and wider changes in the retail landscape in Edinburgh, including the opening of the St James Centre which drew a number of retail operators eastwards are significant material considerations in the planning balance.”
The expired property listing on Realla describes the location as becoming a “core restaurant location”. Nearby occupiers include the Johnnie Walker Visitor Centre, Jollibee, Pret A Manger, McDonald’s, Urban Outfitters, Sports Direct, and the Waldorf Astoria Caledonian Hotel.
“It is considered that a class 3 restaurant use would make a valuable contribution to the city centre’s wider vitality and viability and would ensure the unit does not lie vacant on a long term basis,” the application continued.
“Likewise, the vacant office space will be repurposed for the provision of four apartments providing additional opportunity for city centre living and bringing the space into productive use.”
A lengthy cover letter explained that the building was extensively refurbished in the 1990s after a fire severely damaged the interior.
“Given the extensive history of refurbishment following the fire in 1994, there are no historic features of value left which will be affected by the proposed works to reconfigure the floor plates for residential occupation,” the application said.
“The two basement and ground floor units will be refurbished by minor reconfiguration for occupation by restaurant operators. The kitchens in each unit will be located across the basement and ground floor levels within the rear of the building.”
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