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Search forHotel included in plans for city's £150m office campus (with video)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 10:00
Norseman Investments wants to create a six-building office complex between Traffic Street and Siddals Road.
At 400,000 sq ft it, would be more than double the size of the current biggest office complex in the city, Heritage Gate, off Friar Gate. That is 180,000 sq ft, spread across four buildings and is home to council staff.
Norseman has submitted a planning application to Derby City Council and revealed that, as well as the offices, the site could also feature a 104-bedroom hotel.
The city already has plans for two hotels as part of the Riverlights development, which is under construction off the Morledge.
A fly-through of how the city centre would look under the new plans.
The £25m Jury's Inn hotel is also being built off St Alkmund's Way.
And urban regeneration company Derby Cityscape's ideas to develop the land around Exeter Street, Exeter Place and the Darwin Place car park – dubbed North Riverside – also include a five-star hotel.
Despite that, the managing director of Norseman Investments, Duncan Ashby, said he felt the city could support another hotel.
"Derby has been seriously 'under bedded' in the past but it is encouraging that this situation is now being addressed and that the hotel industry is interested in investing in the city," he said.
"A development of this scale, with the potential for creating 4,000 new jobs, is large enough to sustain a hotel in its own right.
"We have worked with the planning authority for six months prior to the application being submitted and will continue to work with them constructively to, hopefully, lead to a successful outcome."
It is hoped the offices could be attractive to large London companies or Government departments looking to relocate.
The Government has already announced plans to relocate 20,000 public sector jobs from the south-east to the regions.
And when submitting his plans at the end of last month, Mr Ashby said the credit crunch could increase the motivation of organisations to reduce their costs and so move to cities like Derby.
Norseman and its property adviser, Colliers CRE, are working with agent Salloway in Derby to try to attract businesses which are looking to relocate.
The site is owned by car dealership Speeds Limited, which has agreed to sell once planning permission has been granted, and currently houses a garage and car park.
The nearby probation service buildings are not included in the site.
If the plans are approved, Norseman wants to start work next summer, completing the complex by 2011.
John Cadwallader, chief executive of Derby Cityscape, said he felt the area could support another hotel.
"I'm quite confident the developer will find an operator for that hotel."
AMBITIOUS: Top, an artist's impression of the office complex between Siddals Road and Traffic Street and, bottom, part of the site, which is currently a car park.
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