Edinburgh planning: Princes Street regeneration continues with proposed £20 million boutique apartments

Plans submitted for 30 serviced apartments at landmark Edinburgh street

Plans have been submitted for the renewal of a significant Princes Street site by the company behind the recently approved Ruby Hotel development at the landmark Edinburgh city centre street.

The latest plans by Hunter REIM, on behalf of the Hunter UK Retail Unit Trust, will comprise 30 serviced apartment units operated by Destiny Scotland, which is adding to its existing portfolio in Edinburgh. The proposals will restore and refurbish the interiors of the buildings at 72-77 Princes Street and 1-5 Hanover Street. Additionally, the proposals will retain and preserve all the ground floor retail premises at the key corner site at Princes Street and Hanover Street.

In addition to the major restoration work, the proposals will create an active use for 2,250Sqm of currently unused space on the upper floors and add a modest and elegant roof top extension. The proposals will also include, for the first time at this location, elevator access to previously inaccessible space on the site. The ground floor retail space remains unaffected by the proposals.

A CGI image of the proposals for the site at the corner of Hanover Street and Princes Street.

These plans would further boost investment by Hunter REIM at Princes Street with an additional £20 million on top of the more than £600m already delivered or in the pipeline. The developers behind these proposals say it “will bring significant additional visitor spend visitor spend to Princes Street and Edinburgh”.

Commenting on the proposals, Bruce Robertson, fund manager at Hunter REIM, said: “We at Hunter REIM are delighted to be able to regenerate, restore and revive this important family of buildings on Princes Street and Hanover Street, especially after we have already secured consent for the new Ruby Hotel Proposals at 104-108 Princes Street.

"With new legislation of around short term lets, there is a clear opportunity for more high quality, family friendly accommodation in the city centre. We are also delighted to be working with one of the best and most successful local operators in the tourism market, in Destiny Scotland. Destiny has a proud record of delivering a quality accommodation offer, and these proposals will strengthen its presence in the nation’s capital.”

The proposals have been specially designed to preserve and make better use of existing buildings which are all Category ‘B’ Listed, with all the buildings in need or significant repair and restoration. The upper floors lie vacant and unused, with extremely limited access restricting their potential.

These photos show the dilapidated state of the upper interior of the site on the corner of Princes Street and Hanover Street in Edinburgh city centre.

The proposals have been submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council and if approved, work may begin before the end of 2025 with the new serviced apartments potentially opening in 2026. The shops currently in the retail units there are Fraser Hart, Doc Martins, Three and Camper.

The Ruby Hotel proposals by Hunter REIM were agreed in October and the delivery of the construction is now being planned.