Former Blackpool post office hits market for £2m
After failing to secure £7m from the Levelling Up Fund to convert the former Royal Mail site off Abingdon Street into a 146-bed hotel, Ashall Projects has opted to not purchase the building.
As a result, owner Thompson Management Services Blackpool has secured Duxburys Commercial to put the property back on the market. Duxburys has stated that offers of more than £2.25m will be considered.
The site includes both the former Royal Mail post office and a sorting office. The partly grade two-listed buildings have planning permission to become a 148-bed hotel with ground-floor shops and car parking. This planning permission was secured by Ashall Projects in November 2021. A refreshed application, submitted in December 2022, decreased the number of bedrooms to 146. It is currently awaiting planning approval.
Ashall Projects had been working with Blackpool Council and Indigo Hotels Group on the hotel conversion, which was billed as costing £25m. To bring the Franklin Ellis Architects-designed hotel to fruition, however, the developer needed to plug a £7m viability gap. This was supposed to come from the Levelling Up Fund, but Blackpool Council’s bid for money for the project was unsuccessful.
CGI showing Ashall Projects’ plans for the site. Credit: via Newsmaker PR
The former Royal Mail post office and sorting facility site is more than 103,000 sq ft and sits on a nearly one-acre site, according to Duxburys.
“This is an exciting opportunity to acquire the most prime, re-development site, in the heart of Blackpool town centre,” said Adam Taylor, director and head of agency at Duxburys.
Calling the property a “landmark building”, Taylor continued: “There is potential, subject to planning permission, for a variety of re-development options. These include a 140+ bedroom hotel, retail, leisure, food and beverage, and part residential with circa 46 no. flats, to name a few.”
If sold for the guide price, the property will have doubled in value. Thompson Management Services acquired the site in 2015 for just under £1m, according to the HM Land Registry.
