Historic Edinburgh building on Princes Street could be set to open new restaurant.
The City of Edinburgh Council validated a proposal from developers Ravenhill Property Limited on October 18.
They want to change the use of the premises from retail to a restaurant.
The B-listed ground floor premises at 106 Princes Street was previously rented by the upmarket footwear retail Russell & Bromley until recently. No alterations to the fabric of the Category B Listed building are proposed by the application for planning permission.
The developer says on the planning application that they believe that demand for retail units, like Russell & Bromley and Debenhams, are declining as people’s spending habits change and a restaurant would be more fitting.
They said: “Across Scotland there is a declining demand for physical retail floorspace.
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“Within Edinburgh City Centre specifically, this decline has materialised more substantially towards the west end of Princes Street, which is principally linked to reduced occupier demand for physical store space, as well as the opening of the St James Centre towards the eastern end of the city centre.
“In the west end of Princes Street there is clear evidence that the area is declining as a desirable retail location, which has been heightened by the closure of a range of traditional department stores, including House of Fraser, Jenners and Debenhams, all of which are now at various stages of being redeveloped to provide a more vibrant mix of uses for Edinburgh’s most famous street.”
The developer says on the planning application that they do have a client ready to fill the space but they did not reveal the name of the company opening the restaurant.
Historic Environment Scotland say the building is “Listed at Category B, as a significant surviving part of the original fabric of Edinburgh’s New Town, one of the most important and best preserved examples of urban planning in Britain.”
The City of Edinburgh Council are expected to make a decision on the planning application in the coming weeks.
