Council poised to buy Blackpool hotel site

Councillors are being asked to consider the acquisition of a site in Blackpool earmarked for a new hotel alongside the Winter Gardens.
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Documents related to the proposal are being kept secret by town hall officials, but the agenda for the next meeting of the executive lists an item “acquisition of land bounded by Alfred Street, Adelaide Street and Leopold Grove”.

Planning permission was granted last June for the construction of a five storey hotel on the land which is currently used as a car park, with the site being marketed for sale with a £3m price tag.

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Four different hotel schemes have been brought forward for the land since 2010, but none have progressed.

An artist's impression of the hotel planned for land between Alfred Street, Adelaide Street and Leopold GroveAn artist's impression of the hotel planned for land between Alfred Street, Adelaide Street and Leopold Grove
An artist's impression of the hotel planned for land between Alfred Street, Adelaide Street and Leopold Grove

However a hotel next door to the Winter Gardens is seen as a key asset for the new £28m conference centre on Leopold Grove due to open this spring.

The hotel plans include an enclosed bridge linking the second floor with the conference centre, a cafe and bar on the ground floor and a double level car park with 94 spaces.

It would occupy half of the site, including a landscaped garden separating it from the car park opening onto Alfred Street, and it would be designed in an art deco style.

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A council report at the time planning approval was granted said: “An additional large hotel on the edge of the town centre would support town centre businesses such as shops, eateries and tourism and leisure facilities, as well as providing good quality hotel accommodation opposite the new conference centre.

“The development would be one of many regeneration projects in Blackpool and will assist in re-branding the town centre, strengthening it as a cultural, leisure and business destination for residents and visitors and this weighs notably in favour of the scheme.”

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