A reserved matters planning application has been submitted following an announcement on 30 March 2017 that Hilton (NYSE:HLT) is to open Hilton Garden Inn Stoke-on-Trent. The 140-guestroom hotel will be located in the Smithfield development in Hanley, and Genr8 has confirmed that a franchise agreement between Hilton and Smithfield developer and hotel owner Genr8 was entered into in April 2017. Outline planning for the Smithfield, Stoke-on-Trent development was granted in 2011.
Plans were revealed at the end of March 2017 and were hailed as a major coup for the city. The new hotel will deliver an economic boost to the area, creating more than 50 jobs, and introduce high-quality meeting and conference facilities. Hilton Garden Inn Stoke-on-Trent will bring quality hotel accommodation to the rising number of visitors and further support the City of Culture 2021 bid.
City director David Sidaway said: “This is an exciting step forward in what would be a landmark development scheme for Stoke-on-Trent city centre. It reinforces what we have been saying for some time now, that Stoke-on-Trent is truly on the up, and it’s fantastic to see this level of business confidence to invest in our city and the scheme moving forward quickly. “There is a need for more hotels in the city and this development would go some way towards addressing that with high-quality accommodation from a world famous brand. It would also help enormously with our UK City of Culture 2021 bid as well as creating jobs,
bringing in additional footfall and supporting the local economy. We are now one of the fastest growing economies in the country and have a drive to not only change perceptions of our city but raise our aspirations.” The new hotel will be delivered and owned by Smithfield Stoke-on-Trent developer, Genr8, working alongside the city council. Genr8 is expected to start construction later in 2017 subject to planning approval being granted in the coming weeks. The hotel is expected to welcome its first guests in 2019. Genr8 has appointed the UK’s leading hotel management company Redefine BDL Hotels to operate the hotel on its behalf.
Richard Ingham, partner, Genr8, said: “The planning submission is the next key step in the delivery process for the Hilton Garden Inn at Smithfield and work is continuing in line with our programme towards a start on site for the hotel in late 2017.”
The new hotel will be within walking distance of the main retail area, museum and theatres, and within a short drive to national attractions such as Alton Towers and Trentham Gardens.
Cabinet members at the city council previously agreed to provide £4.55 million investment for the project. Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership is also set to provide a £2.95 million grant for the hotel development, showing leadership and intent by the city council and the LEP to drive the economy and accelerate growth in the city.
Jonathan Bellamy, chairman of the city centre partnership, said: “The announcement of a new Hilton Garden Inn is yet another strong and positive step in the re-development and reenergising of our city centre.
“Its position too, on the Smithfield site, will align excellently with the demand from businesses based in the Smithfield offices and the bistro and brasserie offer now being presented by our vibrant Cultural Quarter.”
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