Hotel could bring 50 jobs (From York Press)
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£10m hotel plan for York
11:40am Saturday 30th January 2010 in York means business
Exclusive By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter
NEW LOOK: An artist’s impression of the proposed 120-bedroom hotel in Toft Green, pictured centre, in yellow and grey
A NEW £10 million hotel within York’s Bar Walls is set to create 50 jobs and boost the city’s vital tourism economy.
Developers revealed today they want to build the six-storey, 120-bedroom hotel on land in Toft Green next to the planned new City of York Council headquarters.
They said York hotel occupancy rates now ranked as the highest outside London, and the proposal had already attracted interest from a number of national and international hotel operators keen to be a part of the city’s tourism success.
The new hotel would also complement the five-star Cedar Court Grand Hotel and Spa, which is due to open this spring just around the corner in Station Rise.
The proposal is the brainchild of York Investors LLP, which includes property companies Buccleuch and York-based S Harrison Developments Ltd, and is the preferred developer to deliver the new council HQ at West Offices.
Sandy Smith, of York Investors, said: “A good- quality hotel within the city walls will help boost the city’s economy and add to the attraction of York as a tourist destination as well as a place to do business. “We have designed a hotel which will sit attractively in the location and offer business and conferencing visitors as well as leisure tourists a convenient base from which to connect with York’s excellent facilities.”
Mr Smith said that because the building was so close to the city centre and railway station, it fitted in with the city’s sustainable transport ambitions, but there was also underutilised public parking nearby, which could be used by visitors.
The architects for the scheme, York-based Crease Strickland Parkins, said they had worked closely with the city’s planning team to create a contemporary design for the hotel, which was likely to offer restaurant and meeting facilities, a work-out room and around 120 en-suite guest rooms.
Jon Patrick, of Christie +Co, who is marketing the site for York Investors, said York was an all-year-round destination for UK and overseas visitors, and the exchange rate had seen a significant increase in tourists from the Eurozone, boosting the city’s economy.
York Investors LLP said the project would create about 100 construction jobs and about 50 permanent jobs.
It said it would be contacting neighbours to outline the plans in detail and would also stage a public consultation before submitting final plans to the council in the spring. If approved, the hotel could be in operation by 2012.
Demand on the up
TOURISM boss Gillian Cruddas said the proposed new hotel was a welcome investment – and an indication of York’s popularity.
Mrs Cruddas, chief executive of Visit York, said there was an increasing demand for accommodation, and the city’s success in winning accolades such as the Daily Telegraph’s Best UK City award had boosted this. “It is important, too, that we work to preserve the distinctive mix in York of quality bed and breakfasts and both modern and historic hotels,” she said.
Comments(17)
leninwasright
says...
12:59pm Sat 30 Jan 10
King Edward
says...
1:23pm Sat 30 Jan 10
redr
says...
1:30pm Sat 30 Jan 10
King Edward wrote:Great a smart new hotel and a multi cultural experience, it just gets better.
Do not be taken in, the construction jobs will mainly be EU workers brought in, as will the day to day hotel jobs. What is the cost to CofYC in assisting?
Silver
says...
4:58pm Sat 30 Jan 10
the butler
says...
5:36pm Sat 30 Jan 10
The track record so far of the city is nothing to write home about...
Aside , This area is an ideal location for such a venture; Good luck to all concerned
pedalling paul
says...
5:42pm Sat 30 Jan 10
Bo Jolly
says...
7:07pm Sat 30 Jan 10
King Edward wrote:If that were true it would be utterly bizarre!
Do not be taken in, the construction jobs will mainly be EU workers brought in, as will the day to day hotel jobs. What is the cost to CofYC in assisting?
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The main contractors are York-based and I'd be amazed if sub-contactors had been appointed in advance of submitting a planning application.
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Are you basing this on special knowledge or is it just xenophobic paranoia?
King Edward
says...
8:34pm Sat 30 Jan 10
Bo Jolly wrote:My experience of the construction industry is that you can employ highly skilled reliable workers from the EU cheaper than their local counterparts so who would employ people who don't turn up on time, skive on the job and want to be paid more? The same goes for jobs in the hospitality and care business. I'm not knocking guest workers, rather the opposite, I'd employ them over UK people.
King Edward wrote:If that were true it would be utterly bizarre!
Do not be taken in, the construction jobs will mainly be EU workers brought in, as will the day to day hotel jobs. What is the cost to CofYC in assisting?
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The main contractors are York-based and I'd be amazed if sub-contactors had been appointed in advance of submitting a planning application.
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Are you basing this on special knowledge or is it just xenophobic paranoia?
mrfixit2
says...
9:12pm Sat 30 Jan 10
sun seeker's
says...
9:32pm Sat 30 Jan 10
leninwasright
says...
6:33pm Sun 31 Jan 10
King Edward wrote:Well, Your Majesty, I don't know how much you travel or stay in hotels but during recessions jobs which formerly went to overseas workers (because the indigenes didn't want to know) revert to natives, as it were.
Do not be taken in, the construction jobs will mainly be EU workers brought in, as will the day to day hotel jobs. What is the cost to CofYC in assisting?
leninwasright
says...
6:34pm Sun 31 Jan 10
the butler wrote:Track record in what regard ?
Hope springs eternal!, The track record so far of the city is nothing to write home about... Aside , This area is an ideal location for such a venture; Good luck to all concerned
leninwasright
says...
6:39pm Sun 31 Jan 10
mrfixit2 wrote:If traffic and transport were a serious consideration then no-one would come to York. Then again, they wouldn't come to anywhere in the UK. Clearly traffic is not a major consideration for visitors to York. They come, they stay, they love it. As Caesar might have said had he worked for the tourist board.
A hotel next to one of the worst junctions in York! I hope the residents are told not to turn right under Micklegate bar.
humpty numpty
says...
9:25pm Sun 31 Jan 10
humpty numpty
says...
9:35pm Sun 31 Jan 10
pedalling paul wrote:yeah peddlin, like what railway offices?
Looks like another nail in the coffin, for the railway offices.
York Fox
says...
2:10pm Mon 1 Feb 10
Garrowby Turnoff says...
12:04pm Sat 30 Jan 10