Plan for student rooms at Chester Travelodge
PLANS have been submitted to turn a 160-bed Travelodge hotel in Chester into student halls.
The University of Chester and La Salle Investment Management have submitted a joint application for the building on Delamere Street.
The hotel, which opened two years ago, was one of a number of leases Travelodge sought to off-load last year as part of a rescue deal. Las Salle Investment Management is acting for the owner of the site whose identity was not disclosed.
The university said student admissions have remained the same despite fears that tuition fees would dissuade people from applying.
Of its current crop of 2,561 first year students, 41% live at home. A further 38% (976) are in university accommodation and 21% (532) with private landlords. New halls on the main campus, that are due for completion in the autumn, will provide 200 rooms and the university estimates that the hotel plan will leave just 6% of first years living independently.
Professor Tim Wheeler, the university’s vice-chancellor, said: “Being equidistant between the university’s main campus and the city centre, the Travelodge occupies an ideal location.
“If the application is approved as student accommodation, it would guarantee occupation during term time for students and also be a purpose-built venue for our conference delegates during the vacations. The spending power of these residents year-round would inevitably be exercised in the vicinity and contribute further to the hundreds of millions of pounds with which the university benefits the regional economy each year.”
He added: “The university believes student accommodation is a realistic proposition for this site. It would make use of an existing building on a designated site, without encroaching further outside Chester or being a radical departure from its current use, and is the kind of accommodation that our students tell us they favour.”
