Sale of Edinburgh Johnnie Walker Princes Street building "will have no impact" on visitor attraction's future

The owners of Johnnie Walker Princes Street, Diageo Scotland, are confident that plans to sell their Princes Street premises “will have no impact” on the attraction.

Business Insider has revealed that the owner of the building, JLL, has put it on the market for offers in excess of £31.58 million. The property is let to Diageo on a 25-year lease, expiring in August 2044, at a current passing rent of £1.85m per annum.

JLL says a purchase at this level would “reflect a net initial yield of 5.50 per cent and a projected reversionary yield of 6.38 per cent in August 2029, based on Oxford Economics Forecasts, allowing for standard purchaser’s costs based on LBTT”.

Johnnie Walker Princes Street is based at the former House of Fraser department store in Edinburgh.

The Johnnie Walker Experience opened in September, 2021, after a four-year renovation of the former House of Fraser department store in the eight-floor building at the west end of Princes Street.

Despite the building’s owner looking to sell the property, Diageo is confident that any potential sale would not affect Johnnie Walker Princes Street due to its “secure long-term lease”.

A Diageo spokesperson said, “We are delighted with the continued success of Johnnie Walker Princes Street. We have a secure long-term lease, and the sale of the iconic building we call home will have no impact on our operations in delivering world class experiences across all eight floors.”

Stock photo of inside Edinburgh tourist attraction Johnnie Walker Princes Street. | Kevin Quinn

The listing comes as Johnnie Walker Princes Street claimed a milestone this week of welcoming more than one million visitors from 141 countries in the three years since opening.

Speaking about this milestone for the Edinburgh visitor attraction, Dafydd Pugh Williams, managing director of Diageo’s Scotland Brand Homes added: “Johnnie Walker Princes Street was launched to recruit consumers from around the World to Johnnie Walker and indeed the entire Scotch Whisky category.

“We wanted to disrupt consumer perceptions of whisky through offering a pioneering experience which demonstrated the huge breadth of flavours with the category, the incredible history of Johnnie Walker and champion the people and communities which have helped make the brand a global icon.

“We could not be prouder of the venue’s hugely dedicated team who have made such an impact on so many guests in just three short years. We’d like to thank our colleagues in the Scotch Whisky Association and Visit Scotland for their continued support as we work together to showcase Scotch, and Scotland, to the world.

“Most excitingly we feel like we’re just getting started and there is plenty more growth to come as we ‘Keep Walking’.”