A proposal for a 109-bedroom hotel close to a Scottish shopping centre has been backed by planners.

The scheme for Cameron Toll in Edinburgh is by Franklin Real Asset Advisor Value-Add, an affiliate of Benefit Street Partners in partnership with Hunter REIM, the team behind the recently-approved Ruby Hotel proposals in Princes Street.

Cameron Toll opened in 1984 and is also the largest private sector employer in the area, supporting 600 full- and part-time jobs.

Despite facing challenges, Cameron Toll has shown resilience and adaptability. The centre has navigated road works and burst water pipes throughout most of 2024, demonstrating its ability to overcome obstacles and continue serving the community.

The proposed hotel on Liberton Road aims to 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 development has been planned to ‘blend’ with proposals for the Second Tram Line in Edinburgh, which will run alongside the centre.

The hotel will serve business and leisure tourism and will help support the council’s ambitions to see tourists travel beyond and outside the city centre. It will also provide an amenity to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Sick Kids Hospital at Little France. The plans have been subject to extensive consultation and there are no objections from statutory consultees.

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.”

The plan will go to the Development Management Sub Committee on 28 May, and if agreed, work is expected to begin in 2026 with completion expected sometime in 2027.

Cameron Toll Shopping Centre will operate normally throughout the construction period and measures will be utilised to minimise the impact on neighbouring organisations including Dunedin School where a ‘green wall’ has been agreed to screen the development and where a formal partnership has been offered to help mitigate any impact on the school and its pupils.

Collegelands plan

Glasgow City Council has given the green light for a £95m multi-use residential development in Calton, Glasgow with a park and a contemporary arts centre.

Collegelands Park will feature two student accommodation blocks with 591 beds, 147 rented apartments as well as the arts facility being built by charity Dream Machine Productions.

The 2.5-acre park will include meadows, orchards, seating areas, and spaces for exercise.

The Collegelands regeneration project was launched in 2004. Paul O’Donnell of developers Glasgow Enlightenment said: “It’s fantastic that we are now able to start work on delivering the final piece of the Collegelands jigsaw,  creating a completely new neighbourhood that will help enrich the Carlton area and help tackle Glasgow’s urgent need for purpose-built student accommodation.”

Former brewery site

Artisan Real Estate is to progress with the transformation of the former Caledonian Brewery in Shandon, Edinburgh following planning approval. 

City councillors unanimously granted consent for Artisan’s proposals to develop the historic brewery site, delivering 168 private and affordable homes.

Sitting at the western edge of Edinburgh’s city centre, the Caledonian Brewery was the capital’s last major brewery prior to the ceasing of operations in 2022.

The brewery was founded in 1869 by George Lorimer and Robert Clark and includes B-listed Victorian buildings that will be saved.

As part of the redevelopment plans, Artisan intends to ‘upcycle’ as much of the internal equipment as possible, allowing the Caledonian Brewery’s significant technical legacy to continue to play a part in today’s global brewing industry.

Artisan was behind the New Waverley scheme off Canongate and the regeneration of the arches in Market Street.