Plans to turn Edinburgh city centre theatre into new hotel receive final approval from council
Developer contributions agreed for Rose Street plans
Plans to turn an Edinburgh city centre theatre into a new hotel have received final approval from the council.
Morningbridge Ltd will now turn the former theatre and church at 204 Rose Street into a hotel with associated café/bar area on the roof.
The applicant received listed building consent and change of use approval in April for these Rose Theatre plans, and has now been granted final approval after agreeing to pay around £140,000 in developer contributions.
Morningbridge must pay tram contributions of £87,221 and public realm contributions of £50,949 before work begins to turn the former theatre into a hotel.
The proposal will provide a total of 43 rooms for the seven-level hotel, with internal alterations to convert the building into a hotel, and accommodation available from the basement to the upper levels.
The applicant stated that the exterior of the building will “remain predominantly unchanged”.
Granting final approval on October 16, the council’s chief planning officer David Givan said: “The proposal represents a sensitive and sustainable adaptation of a historically significant building, bringing the vacant building back into active use. The principle of development is acceptable and the external design is considered acceptable.
“Subject to compliance with the recommended conditions and a legal agreement to secure developer contributions towards tram infrastructure, the proposal is acceptable. There are no material considerations which outweigh the conclusion to grant planning permission.”
The original approval, granted in April, contains seven conditions, regarding kitchen ventilation, the floodlighting system, noise levels, and carrying out archaeological work at the site. Another condition bars the use of the rooftop terrace between 9pm and 7am.
Access to the building will be maintained at ground floor level from Rose Street. Wheelchair access is gained from Rose Street Lane.
The Grade-B listed building, built in 1908, has seen three change of use applications refused in the past, including for a pub and a performing arts centre.
Due to the perceived detrimental impacts on the spatial character and historic significance of the listed building, most notable from the sub-division of the sanctuary space, the original hotel plans were refused by the council in November.
Following this refusal, the applicant revised the proposals and additional pre-application meetings were held in January to discuss the revised proposals. The revised proposals retained the sanctuary space, in part, in a more conservation-led approach to the re-use of the building as a hotel.
The building was originally designed as a four-storey Edwardian Baroque Baptist chapel. It was secularised in 2012 when the congregation relocated to the former St George’s West Church.
The chapel thereafter found no settled use, and having latterly become the home of the Rose Theatre, it never recovered from closure during the Covid lockdown, leaving the building empty and unused, until in 2024 when it was acquired by the present owners who hope to convert the building into a hotel.
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