£25m Hotel Indigo plan revealed for Blackpool's historic Post Office building

Cheshire-based Ashall Project has unveiled plans to transform the building on Abingdon Street into a high-quality 148-room Hotel Indigo and Indigo Suites.

Blackpool Council is seeking £7m from the Government’s Levelling Up fund towards the total investment of £24.8m.

Mark Ashall, director of Ashall Projects, said: “There’s a lot of work to do on this project, but we have the resources, knowledge and commitment.

“Instead of being neglected and in danger of becoming an eyesore, these buildings will enhance the town centre and provide the world’s first Indigo hotel of this type which will help attract all kinds of visitors to Blackpool.”

Ashall Projects has submitted a planning application for the scheme for the former Post Office where there is already planning permission for a 102-bedroom hotel.

Mr Ashall added: “This will be a Hotel Indigo with a difference. It will cater for both short-stay leisure and business visitors and it will also offer extended stay suites with additional facilities, such as kitchenettes, to provide the space and amenities for guests who want to stay longer.”

The developer has teamed up with global company Intercontinental Hotel Group and Franklin Ellis Architects, who designed the Indigo Hotel which opened in Chester in 2019.

Mr Ashall said: “There are nearly 150 Indigo Hotels across the globe but this will be the first time anywhere that Indigo will be offering extended stay rooms in addition to the classic Indigo rooms.

“We believe this will allow us to provide a wide range of accommodation options which will meet a variety of customer requirements.”

The proposals include retaining many of the original features of the Post Office, which opened in 1910, including the Abingdon Street frontage and the eight red telephone boxes outside.

Inside, the marbled flooring, cornicing and other key architectural features will be restored.

The hotel, a short walk away from Blackpool’s £28m new conference centre at the Winter Gardens, would employ around 70 staff and 215 people would work on the construction.

Ashall Projects has previously developed the Aloft Hotel in Liverpool after transforming the historic Royal Insurance building in the city.

Matthew Branton, partner with Franklin Ellis Architects, said the project would “further assist the wider regeneration of the locality and its place at the heart of Blackpool’s Town Centre Conservation Area.”

It would provide “an oasis in the centre of town feel for visitors and guests, whilst enhancing Blackpool’s high end guest room offering, alongside the provision of several options for events and meetings to improve the town’s corporate and conferencing offering.”

Blackpool Council leader Coun Lynn Williams said, “Blackpool Council fully supports the plans to bring this key historic property back to life.

“This upscale hotel development will attract extended stay business and leisure guests to the centre Blackpool all year round for the benefit of local businesses. “

This is the fourth set of plans to come forward for the former Post Office building which closed in 2007, with the sorting office moving to a new site in Bispham in 2015.

Ashall Projects is part of a private property investment and development company which in recent years has developed projects with an investment value in excess of £500m.

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