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City 'will rue rejecting mall'



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Published Date: 06 September 2008
EDINBURGH will regret ditching plans for an underground shopping mall on Princes Street, the former head of the city council's development company has said.
Ian Wall, who quit as chief executive of EDI earlier this year, said the street would continue to slide "downmarket" because of the lack of suitable retail space.


The full article contains 57 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 06 September 2008 9:48 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Bob 2,

06/09/2008 11:32:21
slide downmarket, it's already there

Burgers and Mobile phone shop a plenty
2

alex paterson,

edinburgh 06/09/2008 12:00:37
Plenty underground bargains,all for it.
3

Statsman,

Edinburgh 06/09/2008 12:09:38
Having the trams underground on Princes Street would make more sense.
4

nuffnuff,

Edinburgh 06/09/2008 12:25:26
How about sorting out the pathetic mess we already have first!
I remember when Princes Street was an avenue worthy of the city.
5

The Geniune Mario Antionette,

06/09/2008 13:42:14
no they wont. what they will regret is the trams
6

The Geniune Mario Antionette,

06/09/2008 13:42:46
#4 - that would be about 1910 then
7

Auld Twa,

Edinburgh 06/09/2008 14:24:38
When you can't park in the middle of Edinburgh and have to make use of Park and Ride you might as well use the excellent facilities in Livingston.
8

David Harrington,

Edinburgh 06/09/2008 14:59:43
Good point, this is a big risk. No doubt the trams will be hugely successful, as they have everywhere else they've been introduced, but that's only part of the equation - the underground shopping malls which could have brought more and more appropriate retail space are a missed opportunity.
9

World class concrete,

06/09/2008 15:34:12
#8: what about Princes Mall - an underground shopping mall with plenty of nice new, purpose-built shop units, but about half of them are empty and have been for several years now, and as a mall the place is a failure. You want another half-empty underground mall?
10

Lang Spoon,

Sunny Leith 06/09/2008 15:46:44
I agree with #9; there is plenty of retail space in the Princes St area, and no more is needed. What is needed is a better mix of quality shops; you don't see any Tartan Tat shops in George St or Multrees Walk, now why is that?
11

David Harrington,

Edinburgh 06/09/2008 16:25:07
#9, I said "more" and "more appropriate". Princes Mall simply isn't providing the "more appropriate" - it's units are just too small. Debenhams provides a clear example of the problem on Princes Street - too little floor space, so it has to use a large number of floors instead, making it customer unfriendly. Unless units are knocked together, which has problems of its own, building underground is the only option I can see.
12

World class concrete,

06/09/2008 17:28:01
#11: as I remember, the "Galleries" proposal involved smallish shop units, much like Princes Mall.
13

elayne,

06/09/2008 19:02:48
#1 agreed!princes st aint what it used to be
14

jambo43,

edinburgh 06/09/2008 22:42:19
Princes St.is a disgrace, this council has let it get more like Blackpool golden mile with all the tat shops
15

David Harrington,

Edinburgh 06/09/2008 23:54:50
#12 I don't remember any size being talked about; seeing as they never got the chance to be developed past the proposal stage it seems pure conjecture anyway
#14 What's wrong with Blackpool's Golden Mile? I cordially invite you to withdraw your unnecessary slur on the character of the good people of Blackpool.
16

Mr Fuzzy,

Edinburgh 07/09/2008 00:10:23
They need to get more office workers back in the city centre. Then the shops will go upmarket again. That's only going to happen once commute times are reduced. It shouldn't take 30 minutes just to get 2 miles by bus.
17

stuartyboy,

edinburgh 07/09/2008 00:28:53
How much further can Princes St slide,it's a tatty
area now as far as shops are concerned,has been for
years now,too many of the same kind of shops,for
instance mobile phone shops,not a patch on Glasgows
shops,no wonder people from the outskirts prefer the
out of town shopping malls.
18

McChef,

Edinburgh 07/09/2008 01:10:43
Trust me, there will never be a proper underground mall in Princes Street, I have seen the nuclear bomb shelter & private railway under Princesreet these places wont be touched!
x
19

bumpkin,

07/09/2008 11:30:20
The last time my then heavily pregnant wife shopped on princes street, she was harassed by a traffic warden and got a ticket for being 4 mins over on a meter on george street. We no longer visit edinburgh to shop.
20

Ian down under,

Musselburgh 08/09/2008 00:49:14
#3 Agreed
It's still not too late. Dig a trench the length of Princes St [and backwards to Haymarket]and put the trams underneath, then cover it over. They did it in London over a 100 years ago.
As for Princes' Mall it could become a tram station with easy access to the Waverley and the trams for Leith could be tunnelled down either to beyond the London Road junction or even swing down on a flyover over the station, tunnel through Calton Hill and take the old Abbeyhill line to Leith. It could be the base for a branch towards Musselburgh via Portobello [flyover] Newcraighall and the old Musselburgh branch line. This would cost more but with no road traffic to mix with the tram or metro frequency could be ramped up to about 1 a minute and really shift a lot of people.
Yes there would be roadworks but the end result would be well worth it.
21

S'me,

Edinburgh 08/09/2008 02:39:02
Edinburgh has slipped into a grubby state of disrepair, if you can see a clean pavement its cracked and potholed. We are so used to it now we don't notice.
22

Julian.,

edinburgh 08/09/2008 02:53:50
#12 David Harrington,

Debenhams is a department store. I can't think of any department store which isn't spread over at least 4 floors. The idea that having one big shop on one level will attract in the shoppers is just pie in the sky. And for those who don't like to climb stairs in multi-level shops there is the less inconvenient option of lifts and escalators.

 

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