A deal is on the table to bring a hotel to the city’s new business quarter as Chester is ranked number one ‘hot spot’ for hotel development.
The One City Place building is now open next to Chester Railway Station but it was always planned there would be more office blocks, 200 new homes as well as leisure, restaurant and hotel facilities.
And Phil Mayall, regional director of Muse Developments, who are behind the £100m scheme, confirmed talks were taking place with a potential operator about a 120-bed hotel as real estate advisor Colliers International revealed Chester is the top UK location for hotel development and acquisition.
Mr Mayall said: “Muse is committed to delivering a truly sustainable environment for occupiers and their employees at City Place as well as boosting the local economy.
“The provision of hotel accommodation with associated ground floor, publicly accessible facilities will support this ambition as well maintaining the excellent momentum already generated through the development and lettings at One City Place. Discussions are taking place with a potential operator who would be a perfect fit for this location.”
Muse says the latest hotel plans are ‘separate’ to planning consent obtained by Waitrose on the other side of the canal for a scheme including a 120-bed hotel and office blocks on land previously occupied by St Paul’s Primary School.
Meanwhile, the research by Colliers shows the UK’s top ten hotspots for hotel investment and development with Chester sitting pretty at number one.
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 is 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.
Marc Finney, head of hotels and resorts consulting, Colliers International, said: “The data in our second report reveals the ever-changing nature of the UK hotels market. Cities such as Oxford and Cambridge have really upped their game in the last year to make it into the top five, despite failing to score in the top 15 last year.
“Of course, this is a general market index and site specific factors will lead to significant variances but the data demonstrates that London is not the only city that investors should be watching and offers a credible indication to influence their decision making process.”
