The Marco Pierre White restaurant will open inside the new four-star Holiday Inn, on Talbot Road.
But the complex has been hit by further delays over the summer, which means it is now expected to open some time in 2024.
Shop-front signage was spotted going up this week, and construction work is on-going – following further delays over the summer.
Marco Pierre White, dubbed the country’s ‘first celebrity chef’, runs seven restaurant brands across the UK, and it is his ‘New York Italian’ range that is set to come to the seaside town.
Speaking in 2020, Nick Taplin, Chairman and CEO of Black and White Hospitality added: “This New York Italian is perfect for Blackpool. It represents friendly, casual dining and will give locals and visitors a great new place to go out and eat. It’s not pretentious, it’s just good food, served in a great environment.”
More about the Holiday Inn complex and the Talbot Gateway
In 2018, chiefs at Blackpool Council chiefs confirmed a franchise of ‘Marco’s New York Italian’ will operate in the Holiday Inn which is part of phase two of the Talbot Gateway.
The restaurant chain had signed up previously when a new hotel was earmarked for land occupied by St John’s car park on East Topping Street. That scheme was scrapped and the new development now lies on the site of the Wilko’s store on Talbot Road.
Final contracts for the exciting additions to Blackpool were signed nearly three years ago, when Blackpool Council and Muse Developments, development partners on Blackpool’s flagship Talbot Gateway regeneration project, agreed a deal with the hotel management company RBH, Holiday Inn and Black & White Hospitality (owner of Marco Pierre White’s restaurant chain) in October 2020.
The land is on the site of the old Wilko store and multi-storey car park.
A new £23.4m tram extension and tram stop is also being built. The existing tramway on the Promenade has been extended up Talbot Road through the site hotel site to a new North Station terminus and will open once construction on the hotel is complete. Surrounding the tram stop and hotel will be retail units which are available for lease.
A new modern and bright underpass is also being built from Blackpool North train station.
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Marco Pierre White's new restaurant in Blackpool is set to open in 2024 Photo: Lucinda Herbert