Plans for a new café Nero with outside seating on Castle Street are currently going through the council’s planning process.
The new city centre café will be built in the currently closed TSB building next to Rose Street and will offer locals the opportunity to enjoy a drink outside as they bring more seating to Castle Street.
The plans show an extensive overhaul to the interior of the building to accommodate the new venue. The new plans show a small kitchen area in the centre of the building surrounded by extensive seating, including couches, a reclaimed table with space for ten people and benches along the window to Castle street.
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It will also feature a modest outdoor seating area of six tables, placed in Castle Street itself. The pedestrianised road currently features some public seating and other businesses that take advantage of the space.
People in the city centre are due to be informed of the application via a leafleting campaign, to give local residents the opportunity to comment or object to the proposed development.
As part of their planning statement, the developers said: “A coffee shop would provide an additional use and draw to this section of the city centre, complimenting other uses and improving footfall.
“Therefore, it would be compatible with the character of the area. It could be argued that in this sense, a mixed class 1 and 3 use would complement the surrounding uses more so than a class 2 use, which could include a betting shop or estate agency.
“The addition of a specialty coffee shop will enhance the vitality and viability of the surrounding area through adding to an established mix of uses and bringing a long-term vacant unit back into active use.”
Currently, the plans are awaiting assessment as they go through The Edinburgh City Council planning process. The application will be decided by June 22 and is open to comments from the public until June 24.
