Green light for Newcastle quayside hotel

Dakota Hotels’ plans to transform a vacant building in the heart of Newcastle’s quayside into a boutique style hotel have been rubber stamped.The scheme relates to St Ann’s Wharf at 112 Quayside, which was constructed in 1997 and has been vacant since October 2022.Located on the opposite bank to The Baltic, the application includes the change of use of the building to a 118-bedroom hotel, with an ancillary bar and restaurant.The hotel will retain most of the building’s current features and details, although an extension to the ground floor is proposed to cater for a new entrance lobby.In its current form, the office block covers 0.6-acres and comprises 79,803 sq ft of floorspace.Planning consultancy Lichfield first unveiled the project in June at a public consultation which received 35 responses.The company concluded that the overall response to the project was mostly positive.A report, which went before Newcastle Planning Committee on Friday 1 September, said that the proposed development is expected to generate about 150 local jobs.It added: “The change of use of this building to a hotel will further act to promote the quayside area as a world-famous leisure destination.”The resultant enhanced quality of accommodation available for visitors and associated dining and drinking facilities arising from this development will add to the vibrancy of the quayside and wider city centre and is in accordance with Council’s Urban Core policies which promote development which will diversify and widen the night-time economy in the quayside area.”Once operational, it is projected that the venue will generate an additional £1.5m gross value per annum through direct operational employment and support an extra £5.4m of visitor spending per annum.