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Long-term residents of Edinburgh will be only too aware that the absence of a Primark store in The Capital is a constant source of heated debate. Our regularly updated Edinburgh Primark Update has long been one of our most popular – and controversial – articles, often threatening to erupt into a war of words between those keen to see the chain take its rightful place at the heart of Edinburgh’s premier shopping district and those who consider it a potential blight on the face of a historic and beautiful area.
This morning we received two new updates on the Primark situation, one which suggests that plans to bring a flagship store to Princes Street might finally become a reality and another which hints at the fashion retailer’s imminent arrival in nearby Livingston.
Primark Lodges Official Princes Street Store Plans
Discount fashion giant Primark today announced that their plans to create a flagship store on Edinburgh’s Princes Street had taken a significant step forward, with the submission of a detailed planning application to City of Edinburgh Council.
- Site of the proposed Edinburgh Primark store.
The plans have been influenced by comments and feedback gathered during an extensive three month public consultation exercise.
Proposals for the new store on the site of the former Marks and Spencer’s building at 91-93 Princes Street point to an all-new purpose-built 75,000 sq ft retail outlet with shop fronts on both Princes Street and Rose Street.
City officials hope the scheme will boost the Capital’s retail sector, which has suffered in recent years at the hand of the trams project, and create hundreds of new jobs.
Planners have promised to respect the scale and character of Princes Street, part of both the Edinburgh World Heritage Site and the Edinburgh New Town Conservation Area, with 3DReid, the project’s architectural firm, hoping to restore the ‘historic footprint’ of the site after the planning disasters of the 1960s and 70s.
The planning application will be discussed by City of Edinburgh Council’s planning committee this summer, though approval and construction are expected to take longer than usual due to the complexity of the project.
Primark anticipate that their new flagship store will open in Autumn/Winter 2011.
Primark Comes to Livingston?
With the ongoing saga of Edinburgh’s first Primark store seemingly one-step closer to resolution, shoppers in the Capital may take further solace from the news that the bargain fashion chain may soon have a presence in nearby Livingston.
Lomond House in Livingstone
Informed Edinburgh has learned of high-level plans within West Lothian Council to demolish an existing council property to make way for an all-new Primark store in the centre of the town.
The Council is currently in talks with retail investment trust Land Securities, who operate The Centre in central Livingston, to sell nearby Lomond House.
Though owned by West Lothian Council, Lomond House has been vacant since earlier this year as part of a package of government cuts in the region.
Negotiations indicate that Land Securities intend to knock down the former council headquarters and construct a new purpose-built Primark store on the site.
While the deal has not yet been finalised, sources close to both parties indicate that a sale is imminent and that Livingston residents can expect to see construction hoarding going up around Lomond House in a matter of week.
How do you feel about news that Primark may soon arrive in both Edinburgh and Livingston? Let us know in the comments below.
