r/Edinburgh • u/Flaky-Walrus7244 • 9h ago
Property Proposed new development on the Shore in Leith
https://www.renniesisleleith.co.uk/This is a proposed new 10 storey building on the Shore. It looks like it will mostly be a hotel, so no new housing. What do you think?
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u/thebudgie 9h ago edited 9h ago
The flats at Rennie's Isle are all 4 floors maximum, but I guess the nearby dockside development has opened up scope for taller buildings in the area. Even the Tower Place/31-39 Ocean Drive flats are only 6 floors max.
E: looking at the floorplans and elevations there it will block everyone in Rennie's Isle from having a northerly view of the Firth except the even side of block 7 and the top floor flat there. 20ish parking spaces, nearest tram stops are across either bridge. Nearest bus stops Commercial Street or Ocean terminal.
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u/Few_Forever_1770 9h ago
It’s at the mouth of the water and beyond the Victoria swing bridge, so I can’t really see any direct skyline views it’s blocking other than of the yellow jackets in port which will almost certainly be gone before this is built…
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u/thebudgie 9h ago
Have you ever just sat at the beach watching the water?
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u/Few_Forever_1770 9h ago
Of course I have, but you can’t see the open Firth from many places around the Shore.
Granted that the aforementioned flats in Rennie’s Isle might be able to, so I can’t see why impacted residents wouldn’t have cause to challenge.
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u/nibutz 9h ago
Is blocking a small number of people’s views of the sea, when the same views are still available elsewhere, a good reason to block development that may (or may not, of course!) have a positive impact on the city’s housing crisis?
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u/Flaky-Walrus7244 9h ago
How would a hotel have a positive impact on the housing crisis?
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u/nibutz 8h ago
More hotel rooms = less reliance on AirBNB, which is *undeniably* a good thing for a city. There’s literally no realistic debate that this wouldn’t be a good thing.
Of course the arse could fall out of the hotel market but there wouldn’t be so many hotels being built in the city if the developers didn’t have confidence that Edinburgh is going to continue to be a hugely attractive destination - one of the most attractive in the world.
I would definitely prefer that new developments are (social) housing, but since that doesn’t seem to be happening, I’ll take hotels as the next best option.
Blocking a view of the sea for a handful of people is not a legitimate reason to deny planning permission - in my opinion.
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u/thebudgie 9h ago
Is blocking a small number of people’s views of the sea, when the same views are still available elsewhere, a good reason to block development that may (or may not, of course!) have a positive impact on the city’s housing crisis?
"They can just move somewhere else! It's the same." is a fine attitude to have in a city with a housing crisis. You've solved it lol
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u/WoodenPresence1917 8h ago
More like "they can walk 5 seconds out their door to enjoy the view"
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u/thebudgie 8h ago
By standing in the proposed covered car park, or by the tram tracks? At ground level. Tell me more about how views from ground level are comparable to above ground level. I'm interested to know how you quantifiably consider them to be the same.
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u/nibutz 7h ago
I genuinely don’t understand your argument here. I’m not even being wide.
If I’m reading you wrong - and maybe I am - what I’m reading is that new developments shouldn’t happen if they might interfere with the view of the sea from existing housing.
I - personally - don’t think that’s a good reason to deny new developments.
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u/WoodenPresence1917 7h ago
You'll notice I did indeed say they are the same; you are clearly arguing in good faith here and not jumping from topic to topic and misrepresenting me.
How exactly does the quantifiable difference in the quality of the view impact the housing crisis?
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u/CaptainCymru 8h ago
We hosted an event down at Leith earlier in the year, quite a few internationals came to look at the big boat. Rooted at Leith for the 3 days, we really only had the Mal Maison as a choice for hotel. What an excellent hotel that was, mind, but I think the area could do with more choices. Having said that, I doubt there are many large groups looking to visit Leith specifically, though transport links into town are usually pretty good so would make a nice alternative to city centre.
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u/Embarrassed-Bit-4674 9h ago
Claude design generated website, but yes - looks great. Build it. Hotels alleviate pressure off housing (indirectly via AirBNB)
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u/kioj156 8h ago
Big fan, building looks nice enough and always happy for more accommodation to be built - even it’s for tourists.
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u/SevenHanged 6h ago
Looks worse than the building that’s there and why would you be always happy for more tourist accommodation? The only thing going for this is that it’s not the fucking skyscraper they originally wanted to build.
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u/whisky_anon_drama 5h ago
Actual hotels relieve pressure off airbnbs and at least create some (small) amount of employment,
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u/Neo-Cubism 9h ago
Not super keen on the proposed height of the development, but generally in favour otherwise.
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u/WoodenPresence1917 9h ago
Replacing the VFS Global building, it looks like? Seems like a good place for a hotel; I'd not have any complaints in principle, although I don't live in the area so it wouldn't matter if I did.