Boutique hotel for former King St bank
COMMERCIAL Development Projects has won planning approval for a hotel above Jamie Oliver’s restaurant in Manchester.
The business, a division of Elland-based construction group Marshall, wants to convert the upper floors of the grade II-listed former Midland Bank building in King Street into a five-star boutique hotel. The operator has not been named but London-based Bespoke Hotels is a likely contender.
The Sir Edwin Lutyens-designed building, which was latterly an HSBC, has been empty since 2008 apart from the restaurant which opened last year. The original plan was to turn the upper floors into office space.
The centrepiece of the hotel will be a two-storey restaurant on the first and second floors. There will also be bars on the seventh and eighth floors which will make use of the building’s outdoor balconies.
A document prepared by planning adviser Deloitte Real Estate said the unnamed hotelier owns 84 hotels in the UK and 97 worldwide, with a total of 2,500 rooms. Its interests range from a spa hotel in the Cotswolds to a luxury retreat on the Caribbean island of Grenada which has a helipad.
A hotel fitting this description is the Mount Hartman Bay Estate, which is owned by London-based Bespoke. The company was founded in 2000 and is owned by Haydn Fentum and Robin Sheppard. Bespoke is already active in Manchester with serviced apartments under the Staying Cool brand, and The Light aparthotel block near the Arndale Centre. Elsewhere in the North West it has the Brook Meadow Hotel on the Wirral, Ennerdale Country House Hotel in Cleator, Cumbria, and the Royal Kings Arms in Lancaster.
A council document published ahead of a planning decision on Thursday recommended the scheme was approved.
Council officers said: “The proposal would restore and revitalise an unoccupied and important heritage asset. The proposed hotel along with the associated food and drink uses would contribute positively to Manchester’s hotel and entertainment offer and would attract more visitors to the city.”
