Chris Stewart Group, Edinburgh plans to develop 1-5 Baxter’s Place, Edinburgh into a 200+bedroom 4-star hotel, and is in the process of selecting a hotel operator for it.
Baxter’s Place is located at the top of Leith Walk and to the east of St Andrew’s Square. Sitting within the boundary of the World Heritage Site and adjoining the “St James’ Quarter Development Area”, Baxter’s Place is in a prime location. Extensive consultation took place on change of use to hotel with the final consent extending to 85,000 sq ft. The hotel use also fits with the city’s ambitions to deliver 4,000 new hotel beds over the next few years.
The site is made up of 2 principal buildings. The first is a series of three conjoined Georgian townhouses one of which was home to Robert Stevenson, famous Scottish lighthouse engineer and grandfather to Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote Kidnapped and Treasure Island.
The second is a 1970’s extension of no architectural merit which delivers a further 17,500 sq ft of office space. In addition, there is an area of open ground and surface car parking. The current extension will be demolished to make way for a 60,000 sq ft accommodation block for the new hotel.