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Plans have been submitted to turn a former New Look shop in Princes Street in Edinburgh into a 59-room extension to the Edinburgh Premier Inn hotel.
According to The Herald Scotland, the plans submitted on behalf of Premier Inn’s parent company Whitbread aim to expand the existing hotel into the adjacent shop to create new bedrooms alongside a ground floor restaurant.
The proposal also aims to change the use and re-develop the lower ground, ground and first floor of the site to accommodate an extension to the existing hotel.
The planning statement said the eatery and extension to the existing 97-room property would be “appropriate commercial use”.
The statement read: “By way of background, the property is currently occupied by New Look who are due to vacate the premises.
“There is a perceived anticipation of further contraction of occupier demand for Princes Street, which could well be further exacerbated with the opening of the completed St James Centre in 2021.”
It continued: “In summary, with the way the market is moving and the natural gravitation of occupier demand for the east end of the city centre, the west end of Princes Street will only become a vibrant and successful location if a variety of different uses are accommodated and allowed to thrive.”
Last month, Whitbread secured the planning permission for an 80-bedroom hub by Premier Inn on Camden High Street.
The hotel, which will be built on the site of the former Sports Direct store on the corner of Camden High Street and Delancey Street, will be Whitbread’s second Hub by Premier Inn hotel in the borough of Camden on opening.
