A new restaurant and delicatessen is on its way to one of the capital's most famous shopping streets.
The company behind the successful proposal is linked with Di Maggio's Group, which manages a chain of Italian restaurants in Glasgow city centre. The proposal included a retail element with a deli counter proposed at the back of the eatery.
The 77A George Street property currently operates as a Paperchase shop on a short term lease, and two previous proposals to transform the shop into an eatery were rejected over fears of loss of retail.
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The most recent proposal in April came from Windows Catering Company (West End) - which is linked with Di Maggio's Group. To alleviate the council’s retail concerns, the company’s proposal featured a deli in a bid to meet planning rules.
The application was rejected in August but upon appeal the council’s planning local review body overturned the decision and granted approval for the proposal on Wednesday.
Last September the council first refused change of use of the shop. Officers claimed “erosion of retail” on the street would harm the "vitality of the surrounding area".
However the original applicant Aegon Asset Management highlighted that around a fifth of units on George Street were vacant.
A letter of support sent by Essential Edinburgh, which manages the city centre Business Improvement District (BID), called for more flexibility from the council in its decision making on proposals like these.
On Wednesday, the planning review panel agreed to grant permission for the change of use. Although the panel did raise concerns about the ratio of retail to hospitality and other uses, they ultimately agreed to grant approval in this instance.
Councillor Hal Osler said:“I think the reasons for refusal are weakened and we’ve also stated that the position [ratio] held in terms of the shop frontage on the street has already been broken. This is not the bid that’s breaking that [threshold] policy, it’s already been broken.
I’m struggling to uphold that policy when the policy is already broken. In this particular case, not overall, but in this case I believe it merits the fact of being granted.”
The motion was carried and the approval for the deli and eatery granted. No information has been released about when the property may be converted.
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