Abbey Square in the shadow of Chester Cathedral is being marketed as a potential investment opportunity for hotel and leisure facilities.
This vision is contained in Chester Growth Partnership’s latest investment prospectus which reveals where the public and private sector see future growth in the city.
The brochure pinpoints Abbey Square in Chester city centre as a possible location for leisure or hotel facilities.
The Grade II-listed Georgian square, which is home to the Bishop of Chester, has been used as the backdrop for movie and TV series including an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s courtroom drama The Witness for The Prosecution starring Liverpool-born actress Kim Cattrall.
This is not the first time Abbey Square, owned by the Church of England, has been targeted for investment.
In 2008 Chester Cathedral unveiled a long term master plan that involved renovating its crumbling estate, including Abbey Square, in order to preserve the properties as well as generating income towards the upkeep of the 900-year-old cathedral by letting them out commercially.
Among the ideas considered at the time included the possibility of a hotel, visitor centre or a café overlooking Abbey Square. Later plans for a free school came forward at the site but fell through for undisclosed reasons.
The Chester Growth Partnership tells would-be investors: “These beautiful listed townhouses are available as a development opportunity aimed at the leisure and hospitality sector. Abbey Square sits at the heart of the historic city centre.
"Opposite the new cultural centre, Storyhouse, and the Northgate redevelopment, the site is immediately adjacent to Chester Cathedral.
“The cathedral attracts around 300,000 visitors each year, offering a range of activities, outstanding music, an award-winning tower tour, a falconry centre and substantial gardens. The cathedral is also a landlord with more than 60 residential, commercial, retail and catering properties across the site.
“Excess income from the estate goes directly to the upkeep of the cathedral and its management team are open to serious approaches regarding development opportunities that would benefit the cathedral’s long term future.”
Recent research by Colliers revealed Chester as the UK’s number one hotspot for future hotel investment and development. Its UK Hotels Market Index uses a series of key performance indicators to score each of 34 locations across the UK from one to five.
Chester’s high position was attributed to factors including good occupancy levels, upward revenue per available room trend and ‘low active pipeline’, meaning there is only a small stock of room supply being developed.
Hotels are currently planned next to Waitrose in Boughton , in Nicholas Street, Foregate Street and Grosvenor Park Road in Chester city centre .
Earlier this year Muse Developments, who built the One City Place office block near Chester Railway Station , revealed negotiations were ongoing to bring a 120-bed hotel to the other side of the canal from Waitrose as part of its wider business quarter masterplan.
