EDINBURGH could soon have a new five star luxury hotel on Princes Street following the announcement the Frasers department store is up for sale for almost £14m.
Sources in the capital’s property market are suggesting the most likely use for Frasers is a “top end” hotel, but the store could stay as a retail outlet as Frasers is recognised as being one of the six major retailers in the capital.
Jackson Criss agents say the building could be divided up for different uses in future, including residential, restaurant, office and bar.
One local property expert anonymously told The National: “It would be ideal for a luxury top end hotel, but any investor would surely recognise the store’s sales history as a big asset. At the price being asked it is a seriously good investment no matter what use it is put to.
"Whoever comes in will surely want to retain the famous clock looking over the junction as it’s an important landmark and meeting place for Edinburgh people.”
Owned by House of Fraser since 1953 when the store traded as Binns, Frasers has a long and successful history. Having previously been the Osborne Hotel and the Scottish Liberal Club, the building on the corner of Princes Street and Hope Street had been converted into a department store by the Maule family in the 1900s.
The current façade dates from the 1930s and the famous clock from the 1960s, before the store was redeveloped and branded as Frasers in 1981.
House of Fraser has a long lease on the building, and in September the group sold off the building which houses Jenners, the department store at the other end of Princes Street, for an estimated £53m.
It is thought that House of Fraser wants to concentrate on its Jenners business as the Frasers store has not seen the level of investment put into Jenners.
The sales brochure states: “Edinburgh is the most visited tourist and commercial destination in the UK after London, with an exceptional transport and communications network connecting it both internationally and with other cities throughout the UK.
“Edinburgh is one of the strongest retailing centres in the UK and being the Capital City, dominates its catchment, generating an estimated £2.56bn of in-store comparison retail expenditure. This is further enhanced by tourist expenditure which is estimated at over £1bn annually, equating to an average spend of £334 per visitor.”
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