Two leading regional politicians have come together to help a major regeneration project hit the hotel headlines.
Complex Development Projects (CDP) is creating Coventry’s only four-star hotel by converting the former Coventry Telegraph offices on Corporation Street into a 1950-style boutique hotel.
The £20 million project will see the iconic building turned into an 88-bedroom hotel embracing its Mid-Century architecture.
Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), and Cllr Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration at Coventry City Council and a Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership board member, were given a sneak preview of the hotel’s interior.
The WMCA, through its Collective Investment Fund (CIF), has part-funded the project while Coventry City Council has helped the development through the granting of ground leases across the site.
The hotel will open in September 2020 ahead of Coventry being UK City of Culture in 2021 and is already taking bookings.
Street, who is the former CEO of John Lewis, said: “I’m very impressed at what is being achieved to bring this historic and iconic building back into use. The design celebrates Coventry’s proud architectural history and shows what developers can achieve with the support of the WMCA.
“The Telegraph Hotel is unique and offers something very different for Coventry as it prepares for the UK City of Culture 2021 – something the WMCA is proud to support with significant financial backing.”
The hotel will feature a 160-seat convention room, meeting rooms, 110-cover restaurant and two ground floor bars as well as an expansive rooftop bar and events space which overlooks Belgrade Square.
O’Boyle said: “It’s great to see that the building design is keeping the original identity of the building as a print works and newspaper offices. It’s going to be distinctive and a great way to reflect on the city’s past.
“We know that hundreds of extra bedrooms will be needed for our year as UK City of Culture in 2021 and as a host city of the Commonwealth Games in 2022, so there is a real incentive to get this hotel built and open for then.
“It’s also important that we have used this opportunity to create jobs for local people, both in the development and the running of the hotel.”
The CIF is designed to bring inward investment and employment into the region, accelerating site regeneration and supporting strong cities and diverse town centres.
Nick Oakley, Head of Property Investments, Frontier Development Capital, said: “The transformation of the Coventry Telegraph’s former home into a high-quality hotel and leisure facility would not have been possible without funding from the Collective Investment Fund (CIF).
“The fund is designed to accelerate site regeneration and underpin long-term economic growth in the West Midlands so it’s fantastic to see such a unique, high-quality regeneration project progressing.”
The project forms the core part of a £120m regeneration initiative being developed by Complex Development Projects (CDP).