Measures to bring forward “high quality” hotel set for nod

Coventry City Council’s cabinet is set to back a number of measures which could pave the way for the development of a hotel in the city’s Friargate Business District.Friargate will comprise 3.2 million sq ft once complete and will link Coventry Railway Station with the city’s retail offering.The formation of a joint venture company was agreed between Coventry City Council and Friargate LLP in January 2018 to accelerate the delivery of buildings across the site.It was legally established in February 2019, making the authority the joint freeholder of the majority of the land within the masterplan.The four-star Hotel Indigo would be included in the first phase Friargate.A planning application for the venue is expected to be submitted for consideration in the autumn. It will comprise about 100 rooms with a 100-cover ground floor restaurant and a 40-cover bar.Subject to planning approval, work is expected to start in the first quarter of 2020, with the hotel too be operational by 2021.In a document filed ahead of the meeting, officers said the delivery of high quality hotel developments is a “long held ambition” of the authority, especially ahead of the City of Culture 2021 and Commonwealth Games 2022.However, there has been no four-star venue in the city for 50 years and the development would require support from Coventry City Council.This includes a contribution towards public realm and the provision of utilities infrastructure, the disposal of land and the making available of up to 50 car parking spaces.The cabinet has been recommended to approve a number of measures to enable the development to move forward at meeting scheduled for next week (27 August 2019).These include the approval of capital expenditure to fund the acquisition of the site by way of entering a 250-year lease.This would be granted to a special purpose vehicle formed by Wylam Investments, the parent company of Castlebridge.Castlebridge is a development company which has worked on more than 20 hotels in the UK and Europe, including Stratford-upon-Avon’s Hotel Indigo and the Hilton Garden Inn and Birmingham Airport.As part of the first phase of Friargate, the city council is also investing in public space, landscaping and utilities infrastructure.