Hotel development to miss out on Culture year after delays

THE property group behind the 168-bedroom Radisson Blu hotel has said delays in demolition work mean that it will not be completed in time for the City of Culture year in 2017.

Manor Property Group is developing the site next to Drypool Bridge. It was initially planned to open in 2017, but the company said that delays to demolition work

MPG director Philip Akrill said it was “not feasible” that the hotel would be opened next year, with new estimates suggesting a completion date in the third quarter of 2018.

The building will have a restaurant and health club. The surrounding mixed-use scheme includes a new build casino, public plaza with five restaurants, and a 23-storey residential building.

Planning permission has been granted and terms agreed with all the key operators and tenants, said MPG.

Construction will commence fourth quarter 2016 “due to the complex build process.”

Director at MPG Philip Akrill told the Hull Daily Mail: “We would love to have opened it in time for the year of culture, but that is probably not feasible anymore.

“We were hoping to be on site last October if we had not had the trouble with our demolition contractors. We had to clear that up and it has delayed us a little.

“It is a multi-use, mixed-use development, and it is not easy to pull that together in a city the size of Hull.

“It is difficult, but we are completely funded, and what we need to do now is get it moving.”