Developers on board to work up plans for Winter Gardens hotel 

C1 Capital and Mottram Estates are working with the council under an exclusivity agreement to deliver a hotel next to the iconic venue.

Blackpool Council acquired the Alfred Street Car Park site in 2022 from a London-based private investor. Prior to that, developer Kewdeal had won consent for a five-storey hotel with 160 bedrooms.

With C1 Capital and Mottram Estates drawing up plans for the hotel, the developers have applied to Blackpool Council to reword the previously approved consent.

The developers are seeking more flexibility by taking out reference to the height of the hotel and number of rooms proposed.

A cover letter accompanying the application prepared by consultant Gerald Eve states: “This proposed non-material amendment seeks to vary the description of development of outline planning permission to ensure that it sufficiently allows for any future amendments that may occur as a result of design evolution.”

The Blackpool project would be C1 Capital’s first in the North West. The firm currently operates three hotels in London, including the Hilton London Olympia, as well as sites in Thurrock, Cambridge, and Northampton.

The Blackpool site has long been earmarked for a hotel and is located next to the 66,000 sq ft Winter Gardens Conference and Exhibition Centre.

A Blackpool Council spokesperson said: “It has always been our intention for there to be a hotel connected to the Winter Gardens to cater for the growth of delegates staying overnight, and we are working with Mottram Estates and C1 Capital to consider how that could be delivered.”

Bisset Adams is the architect behind the recently completed conference centre and drew up earlier plans for the hotel. The two buildings could eventually be linked via a bridge.

Blackpool Council is currently developing another hotel project. The construction of a 144-bedroom Holiday Inn Express as part of the Talbot Gateway masterplan is nearing completion.