Five-storey flats proposed for hotel car park off Tower Street in Leith

A surface car park off Tower Street in Leith could be replaced by a five-storey apartment block under a new planning application submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council.

The proposal is for land 30 metres west of 7 Tower Street, close to the Leith waterfront area. It would subdivide and redevelop an existing hotel car park to create 18 one, two and three-bedroom flats in a single new block.

Alongside the homes, the plans include ancillary spaces, bin storage, landscaping and parking provision. The application is currently marked as awaiting assessment.

What is proposed

The scheme would turn part of an existing hotel car park into a new residential building.

The application describes:

• 18 flats
• a mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes
• a single five-storey block
• ancillary internal spaces
• bin storage
• landscaping
• parking provision

The short description points to a compact urban redevelopment rather than an extension to the hotel itself. The most visible change for neighbours would be the replacement of open car parking with a five-storey residential block.

A previous planning application for the same site, reference 26/00167/FUL, also sought to redevelop the surface car park with a five-storey residential block. That earlier application was listed as withdrawn in May 2026. The current application, 26/02684/FUL, is a fresh live case and is awaiting assessment.

Where the site is

The site is listed as land 30 metres west of 7 Tower Street, Edinburgh. Tower Street sits in Leith, near the waterfront and within an area that has seen significant residential and mixed-use change over recent years.

The land is currently used as a hotel car park. That means the proposal is not for the demolition of an existing residential block or the conversion of a traditional tenement, but for new housing on land already in urban use.

For people living or working nearby, the key local questions are likely to be about scale, overlooking, daylight, traffic, servicing, parking, bin arrangements and how the new block would sit beside neighbouring buildings and streets.

Why it matters

Small and medium-sized brownfield sites can make a noticeable difference in Leith because they often sit close to homes, shops, hotels, workplaces and walking routes. A five-storey building on a car park site would change the look and use of the land, even though the number of homes is relatively modest.

The proposal also reflects a wider pattern across Edinburgh: underused or surface parking land being considered for housing. These applications can be contentious because they raise practical questions about local parking pressure and construction impacts, while also bringing new homes into established urban neighbourhoods.

In this case, the proposed block would provide 18 flats rather than a large estate-scale development. But its height and position mean it is still a locally significant application for Tower Street and the surrounding part of Leith.

The mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes suggests the building is intended to accommodate different household sizes. The application description does not state whether any homes would be for sale, rent, affordable housing or another tenure, so the key confirmed point is the proposed residential use and flat mix by bedroom size.

Parking, bins and shared space

The proposal includes parking provision, bin storage and landscaping. These are important details on a constrained city site, particularly where an existing car park use is being reduced or replaced.

For neighbours, the drawings and supporting documents will be the place to check how vehicles would enter and leave the site, where bins would be stored and collected, and how landscaped areas would relate to nearby buildings.

Landscaping can also affect how a new block is experienced from the street and from neighbouring properties. Even on a relatively small site, planting, boundary treatments and shared outdoor areas can influence privacy, outlook and the quality of the space around the building.

What happens next

The application is awaiting assessment by the City of Edinburgh Council. Planning officers will assess the proposal against the development plan and relevant planning policies, alongside site-specific issues and any comments submitted through the council’s planning portal.

Residents and interested parties can search for the case on the council’s online planning system using the address or the reference number.

The planning reference is 26/02684/FUL.