New hotel at Edinburgh's Cameron Toll recommended for approval

Planners have recommended that councillors should approve the application for the hotel, which would cater for business and leisure tourists but also people visiting the nearby Royal Infirmary and Sick Kids Hospital.

The developers say the project has been carefully planned to ‘blend’ with proposals for a new North-South tramline which would run alongside the shopping centre on its way from Granton to the Infirmary and the BioQuarter.

The proposed new hotel at Cameron Toll is recommended for approval | supplied

And they say the hotel, fronting onto Liberton Road, will create a high-quality street frontage and introduce a direct pedestrian pathway from Liberton Road into the centre, improving and expanding public transport use to the centre.

The hotel is seen as the first part of a masterplan for Cameron Toll to give it more of a “town centre” feel with shopping and leisure and even new housing.

Cameron Toll first opened in 1984 as Edinburgh’s first “out-of-town” shopping centre and is seen as an important shopping and leisure hub for South Edinburgh. It is also the largest private sector employer in the area, supporting 600 full- and part-time jobs.

The hotel proposal has been put forward by Franklin Real Asset Advisor Value-Add (FRAA), an affiliate of Benefit Street Partners LLC, a Franklin Templeton company, in partnership with Hunter REIM, the team behind the recently approved Ruby Hotel proposals in Princes Street.

Andrew Moffat, managing director of Hunter REIM, said: “This investment is transformational and will help create a vibrant mix of uses that support the centre.

“Although the number of new direct jobs created is modest at 36, it will also help protect the jobs of 600 centre workers and help secure the future of one of Edinburgh’s leading retail destinations.

“These proposals deliver tourism benefits and jobs in South Edinburgh and beyond, but more than that, they help make Cameron Toll sustainable by improving pedestrian links to and from public transport whilst creating an improved and active frontage on Liberton Road.

We’ve worked hard to ensure the new hotel proposals will blend appropriately with the councils tram proposals. We support the council’s aim of introducing a tram and if possible, reopening the South Suburban Loop to passenger traffic. These plans will significantly enhance access to the centre via public transport, aligning with the broader goal of reducing car dependency.

“Our partnership with FRAA will help renew a centre that was ahead of its time. Cameron Toll was built as an ‘island’ within a very large car park. Our long-term vision is to move beyond that to create a sustainable leisure and shopping destination that operates much more like a town centre for the important neighbourhoods and communities around the centre. We hope that this investment will be the first of many.”

The developers said the plans would “both complement and enable” some previous plans for the centre, including plans for a cinema and additional restaurants.

And they said a new masterplan would be produced focusing on using the parking space more efficiently to increase the density of development at Cameron Toll in line with council’s aspirations and widen the range and type of development in a way that enhances the centre. Future plans may include housing where appropriate and possible.

If the plans are approved by the development management sub committee on Wednesday, May 28, work is expected to begin in 2026 with completion expected sometime in 2027.