Where the huge £2bn investment to transform Blackpool is being spent
New hotels and plans for more are in the pipeline as Blackpool seeks to transform itself thanks to millions of pounds worth of investment.
New hotels form part of a huge £2billion investment project aimed at transforming Blackpool. Plans for a five-storey hotel next door to the town's Winter Gardens Conference and Exhibition Centre were approved last week while a Holiday Inn threw its doors open last month.
The £34m Holiday Inn, funded by the council with borrowing to be repaid through hotel revenue, opened on May 1 and is already said to be enjoying a high level of demand.
There are plans to restore the resort's former post office building in Abington Street thanks to the award of £8million worth of Levelling Up funding in 2023.
The Grade II-listed property is currently being surveyed before a deal is tabled for its purchase.
Developer Ashall Projects has planning permission to convert the building into a 144-room boutique style hotel which would be part of the Hotel Indigo brand.
It is still on board with the council, which will provide a grant towards the scheme using the Levelling Up funds.
Council planners approved an application in April by the Singapore-based Fragrance Group for a 143-bedroom hotel on the site of the former St Chad’s Hotel on the Promenade.
That site has already been cleared with the developer saying it hopes to start work on the £30m project as soon as possible.
Outline planning permission is also in place for development at the Blackpool Central site, including a 200-room hotel.
Developer Nikal is expected to bring forward updated proposals for the site in the coming months after the opening of a new 1,306-space multi-storey car park in May.
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The local authority is looking to appoint a contractor to demolish the former Bonny Street police station and law courts, which would pave the way for redevelopment.
Uncertainty surrounds the future of The Sands Hotel in Central Promenade. Developers received a £10m loan from the council, but legal wrangles have delayed the opening. The Showtown Museum occupies part of the building and opened in March.
In the past five years, Blackpool has also seen the Pleasure Beach invest in The Boulevard Hotel, which opened in 2019.
A £7m new Premier Inn opened in Talbot Square in 2021 and an extension of the Hampton-by-Hilton Hotel opened last year which brought the total number of rooms to 130.
