£50m luxury hotel scheme set for approval

Plans for a £50m luxury hotel and residential tower on a waterfront site in Plymouth look set to get the go-ahead when they go before councillors at a meeting. If approved, the scheme is targeted for completion in time for the Mayflower 400 celebrations in 2020. Henley Real Estate submitted a full planning application in May for its 1620 development, located on the former site on the Quality Hotel on Plymouth Hoe.The developer is proposing two buildings; an 11-storey luxury boutique hotel and a 15-storey residential tower with 88 apartments. A total of 130 parking spaces will also be provided.Hotel facilities will include conferencing and function space, bar, restaurant and a health spa with a swimming pool and gym.If approval is granted, construction is scheduled to begin in late autumn of 2017 with the scheme due for completion in late-2019, in time for Plymouth’s Mayflower 400 celebrations in 2020. It has been estimated that the 1620 scheme could support about 90 jobs, with a further 330 in construction and the supply chain, and generate about £23m of gross value added (GVA) for Plymouth’s economy.The plans will go before the Plymouth City Council’s planning committee on next Thursday with a recommendation to approve in the report prepared for the meeting.The recommendation has been made despite on objection from Historic England, citing concerns over the impact of the new buildings on the Plymouth Hoe Conservation Area. The council has also received 58 objections from residents.The site was formerly occupied by the 110-bedroom Quality Hotel, built in the brutalist style in the 1970s.Plymouth City Council bought the ‘eyesore’ hotel in January 2016 and began demolition of the building later in the year. Henley Real Estate was selected as the preferred bidder to develop the site in December.