Malls · United Kingdom
St. James Centre
St James Centre opened 1969, closed 2016, demolished, redeveloped by Nuveen Real Estate into retail‑hotel‑cinema quarter opening 2021‑2023. · summary, model-written
Solid = from the authors' map · outlined = public source · dashed = model-written, not yet reviewed by a person. Tap any value's source label to see where it came from.
Site profile6 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence
On Facebook
This site: …https://www.facebook.com/139802142705699 overture · all sites with thisWebsite alive
This site: …http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._James_Centre overture / http check · all sites with thisRedeveloped
This site: St James Quarter comprising retail, hotel, and cinema extraction · all sites with thisEntertainment and sports
This site: St James Quarter comprising retail, hotel, and cinema extraction · all sites with thisHotel
This site: St James Quarter comprising retail, hotel, and cinema extraction · all sites with thisRetail (continued)
This site: St James Quarter comprising retail, hotel, and cinema extraction · all sites with thisNow
| Status | Demolishedextracted, unreviewed |
|---|---|
| Strategy | Redevelopedextracted, unreviewed |
| New uses | retail, hotel, entertainmentextracted, unreviewed |
| What is there now | St James Quarter comprising retail, hotel, and cinemaextracted, unreviewed |
| Redeveloper | Nuveen Real Estateextracted, unreviewed |
Planning
| Entitlement year | 2015extracted, unreviewed |
|---|
Site context
| Other atlas sites nearby | 2 within 10 km, 3 within 25 km: Parkside Works (0.1 km); James Clark Technical School (0.1 km)computed |
|---|---|
| Overture Maps | place St. James Centre (shopping_mall, confidence 0.86, from Overture, meta); building footprint 37,778 m²Overture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0) |
| Website and social | en.wikipedia.org (alive); archived 2003–2025 (Wayback) · social: facebookOverture / Internet Archive |
| Attention: Wikipedia page views | 76,544 since 2015; 4,165 in the last 12 months (-9% vs the prior 12); peak 2021-06 with 1,747Wikimedia |
Summary, model-written
St James Centre opened in 1969 as a shopping mall in Edinburgh and operated until its closure was announced in 2016, after which the site was demolished. Following demolition, Nuveen Real Estate redeveloped the area into St James Quarter, a mixed‑use development featuring retail, hotel, and entertainment components that opened in phases from 2021 to 2023.
Why. not stated in the record
Where it stands. The site is currently demolished and controlled by Nuveen Real Estate, the owner listed in the record.
For a planner
- Planning approval and entitlement were granted in 2015, enabling the redevelopment strategy.
- The approved new uses include retail, hotel, and entertainment, matching the post‑demolition outcome.
- Open questions include what policy tools or incentives were used to facilitate the redevelopment and whether any affordable housing or community benefits were required.
For a developer
- Site size is not provided in the record.
- Control lies with Nuveen Real Estate, which holds ownership from the available data.
- Entitlement stage: planning approval granted in 2015; construction expected to start that year.
- Constraints from context layers (flood, transit, environment) and market signals from tract data are not included in the record.
What we do not know yet
- Site area and parcel configuration are unknown.
- Reasons for closure (anchor tenant loss, competition, debt) are not stated.
- Any floodplain, transit access, or environmental constraints are missing.
- Tract‑level market data (demographics, income, retail sales) are absent.
- The verification status is 'draft', indicating the data may not be fully reviewed.
Generated by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b on NVIDIA API via Hermes CT from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.
Similar sites
- North DeKalb Mall, Decatur, GA · Malls · opened 1965; closed 2020; same strategy: redevelop
- Landmark Mall, Alexandria, VA · Malls · opened 1965; closed 2017; same strategy: redevelop
- Capital Hill Mall, Helena, MT · Malls · opened 1965; closed 2017; same strategy: redevelop
- Carousel Mall, San Bernardino, CA · Malls · opened 1972; closed 2017; same strategy: redevelop
Elsewhere on the web
Pages with photos
- St. James Centre in Edinburgh tripomatic.com
Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar
History and original facts
| Opened | 1969extracted, unreviewed |
|---|---|
| Closed | 2016extracted, unreviewed |
| Architect | Burke Martin Partnership |
| Anchors | John Lewis |
| Notes | Wikipedia categories: Defunct shopping centres in the United Kingdom |
Not yet recorded: acres, GLA, original developer, retrofit year. Know it? Tell us.
Background
The St. James Centre, later re-branded as St. James Shopping, was a shopping centre next to the former New St. Andrew House office building for the Scottish Office, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was initially designed by Burke Martin Partnership in 1964 but was completed by architects Ian G Cooke and Hugh Martin of Hugh Martin & Partners after Martin's partnership with Ian Burke ceased in 1969.
Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.
Timeline
- 1969 Centre completed
- 2015 Planning approval granted
- 2015 Construction expected to start
- 2016 Closure announced for October 2016
- 2016 Shops closed (except John Lewis)
- 2021 First phase of St James Quarter opened
- 2022 Additional stores and cinema opened
- 2023 Hotels opened
Sources
- Wikipedia: St. James Centre · supports: after notes, status, strategy, year closed, year opened
13 quoted sentences
Completed by architects Ian G Cooke and Hugh Martin of Hugh Martin & Partners after Martin's partnership with Ian Burke ceased in 1969.
All of the shops in the centre, with the exception of the John Lewis department store, closed in 2016 in preparation for demolition, which has since been completed.
The replacement opened in its first phase in June 2021, with additional stores and a cinema opening in 2022. The hotels opened later in 2023, due to small delays in its construction as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
All of the shops in the centre, with the exception of the John Lewis department store, closed in 2016 in preparation for demolition, which has since been completed.
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