Hotel set for former Edinburgh BHS building

Plans to turn Edinburgh's former Princes Street British Home Store (BHS) into a hotel have been unanimously approved by the City of Edinburgh Council.

The £50m mixed-use development at 64 Princes Street will involve a mid-range, 133-bedroom hotel, a rooftop bar and restaurant, restaurants and retail outlets. The four-storey building is a category B listed building, which means little alteration can be made to the frontage.

The property was a purpose-built department store for British Home Stores designed by Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall and constructed in the late 1960s. The company went into administration last year and the building itself was one of the most high-profile casualties of the brand's collapse.

The Coal Pension Investment Fund is behind the investment and owns the building, with LaSalle Investment Management overseeing the fund and CDA Architects designing the project. Work is expected to start in September, with an anticipated opening date in late 2018/2019.

Fund manager at LaSalle Stephen Spray said: "Edinburgh is a world class tourist destination and our plans for new shopping and a hotel will enhance this offer. The rooftop bar and restaurant will add a new ‘must visit' destination which will have some of the world's finest urban views of the Castle and the historic Old Town. Our aim is to begin work as quickly as possible and open within two years."

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