Plans have been approved for a ‘windowless’ new hostel above London’s beloved Prince Charles Cinema

A tumultuous year for one of London’s best loved cultural venues has taken another twist with news that a new hostel will be opening above the Prince Charles Cinema.

The upper storeys of the building, Charles House at 7 Leicester Place, will be turned into a 230-bedroom hostel, reports MyLondon. The cinema itself will be unaffected by the development. 

Commissioned by landlords Criterion Capital, the hostel will take up the four storeys above the venue, bringing ‘high quality and reasonably priced’ accommodation to the area. Each bed would be separated by ‘individual privacy capsules’, with unisex washing and few windows. 

‘In principle, it’s positive news,’ says PCC owner Ben Freedman. ‘It shows a commitment on behalf of the owner of the building to do something other than knock it down. The hostel looks as though it’s aimed at the same target demographics that come to the cinema. We’re happy that it’s moving forward and hopeful that this resolution will free up some headspace for the landlord to talk to us about our new lease.’

Construction work will only take place between 8am-12pm to keep disruption to a minimum, and the cinema’s famous marquee will be untouched by the development. ‘It’s all internal [development work], with an entrance on the side of the cinema where there was a previous entrance to the offices,’ says Freedman. 

In January, Criterion Capital made moves to insert a six-month break clause in the cinema’s lease and increase rent ‘far above market rate’, jeopardising its future. A petition to save the cinema received 165,000 signatures. 

In May, the PCC was listed as an asset of community value (ACV), providing it with extra protection from redevelopment.

The lease, though, remains to be renegotiated. ‘We’ve done everything we possibly can, all the research and experts reports,’ says Freedman, ‘so we’re ready to talk things through [with the landlord] when they come back to us.’

The Prince Charles has expansion plans of its own. It’s planning a second venue in the space once occupied by the now-shuttered Stratford Picturehouse.

Despite difficult times for many cinemas, the PCC is a booming cinema. Its annual programme of more than 850 films and events pulls in 250,000 punters a year – all without any public funding.

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