Novotel-Ibis hotel approved for Quayside Gateshead
Ask:Patrizia’s plans for a £48m dual-branded hotel at the heart of Gateshead’s popular Quayside have been approved by Gateshead Council.
The development partners will deliver a 344-room, nine-storey hotel designed by AHR Architects on a vacant half-acre site at the corner of Quarryfield Road and Hawks Road.
There will be a resident’s gym, restaurants, bars and business meeting rooms. Vine Hotels will undertake the management of the hotel and it will be operated by Accor under its Novotel and Ibis brands.
A network of enhanced pedestrian footpaths and crossings with way finding signage will link the site to the wider riverside and Quayside development areas and the Gateshead town centre to the west.
John Hughes, managing director of Ask Real Estate on behalf of the Ask:PATRIZIA partnership, said: “The delivery of a superb new hotel for the region on a derelict vacant site is not only a great example of regeneration but it will create local jobs and boost spending benefitting the Gateshead area.”
The economic forecast for the hotel development predicts it will accommodate 210,000 visitor nights per year, supporting an estimated £13m annual contribution to the local economy.
The hotel was originally marked for development and adjoined The Sage International Conference Centre but the move to the new location will see the original site opened up as a landscaped linear park, accessible to the public, bringing valuable green space into the area and enhancing biodiversity. A separate consultation exercise has been held by the developer for the new park, removal of the hotel, as well as other minor changes to the previously approved Sage Arena and International Conference Centre and the planning application is expected to be submitted imminently.
Peter Udall, strategic director economy at Gateshead Council, said: “With the transformational impact on the visitor economy that these developments will bring, the region will need more accommodation to provide for the increased visitor numbers. This marks another milestone towards the delivery of these great regeneration schemes.”
The planning consultant was Lichfields.
