Stunning images have been released showing how a £50m skyscraping structure would look as part of developers’ city centre plans.
Gainford Group last year unveiled plans to create what could become the region’s tallest building at the site of the former Premier Inn on New Bridge Street, Newcastle. The Chester-le-Street company, which owns bars, hotels and restaurants in the city including the Vermont Hotel, Aveika, Livello and the County Hotel, snapped up the former hotel in 2019, and started plotting a grand transformation of the site.
Following a pandemic pause its original plans to remodel the hotel have been completely redrawn, to envisage a 37-storey tower combining a five star hotel, private residential apartments, a conference centre and a fitness and health club, along with a number of bars and restaurants. The company says the mixed-use development has the potential to become a new gateway into Newcastle city centre that could create as many as 500 jobs, including construction jobs and roles needed once it is completed.
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And once finished it will stand higher than Newcastle’s current tallest building, the 26-storey Hadrian’s Tower. The Chester-le-Street based family firm said it plans to invest £50m into the scheme, representing its largest investment in the region, having purchased the site from an asking price of at least £3.2m.
Director Imran Khaliq said: “As the plans stands currently it’s going to be the tallest structure in the North East and it’s our biggest project to date. What we’re looking to create is a mixed use development with the top section taken up by a five star hotel, the middle section taken up with residential apartment and the lower levels will have bars and restaurants.
“We’re also looking to create a ground floor conference centre, the biggest in the North East with space for 1,000 delegates. Including the building phase and staffing it will create more than 500 jobs. We’re still working on the plans and are in discussions with the council but these are our proposals. And so long as we gain approval I think we could start on this project next year.”
The company used the lockdown periods to invest in all of its key sites, mainly to increase outdoor space. Bar Livello now has a two-storey extension, increasing capacity from 350 to 500, its rooftop terrace Above at the Vermont Hotel has also opened, and outdoor areas at The Hudson and Aveika were also improved. It also unveiled plans for Crescendo, its new bar based in the space between The Vermont Hotel and Moot Hall.
