Plans to transform an iconic 200-year-old hotel which sits just yards from the Forth Bridge have been lodged with Fife Council.
SAAS Festival Inns, wants to turn the Albert Hotel in North Queensferry into four luxury flats providing spectacular views across the Forth, a Unesco World Heritage Site.
The C-listed former nine-bedroom hotel, restaurant and bar on Main Street, which sits in the heart of the town’s conservation area, has remained empty since it closed in 2017.
The owners say it is now unviable and have submitted a proposal to transform the 19th Century building into a residential property.
They have already undertaken the removal of the bar and some of the existing floor and beams on the ground floor because of wood rot caused by damp.
Plans would transform hotel into apartments
The plans would involve creating three three-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom flat all of which would include a modern balcony overlooking the waterfront and the iconic Forth Bridge.
In a design statement submitted as part of the application, architects for SAAS Festival Inns, said the development “provides a new lease of life to the existing listed building transforming a currently empty and unused property in disrepair at the heart of a small town into several high quality homes.”
It added: “In refurbishing and restoring the property we will also protect it for the future, preventing further water ingress which has already caused damage to the ground floor timbers.
“In effect, allowing the conversion of this property will allow it to be safeguarded for future generations at the heart of North Queensferry.”
Hotel predates Forth Bridge
The property was built in 1824 and pre-dates the Forth Bridge, which was completed in 1890.
The building was originally called Mitchell’s Inn, named after the owner Robert Mitchell.
It was later renamed the Albert Hotel in honour of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s arrival at the town pier in 1842.
Architects McLaren, Murdoch and Hamilton – which has offices in Edinburgh and Perth – specialise in providing conversions to existing properties, including listed buildings and those in conservation areas.
It provided the designs for the redevelopment of the former Forth House factory building in Kirkcaldy.
