Benmore plans Liverpool hotel

Northern Ireland-based developer Benmore Group has submitted a planning application for a 122-bedroom hotel, car park and shops on a partly derelict site in Dale Street.

The £10m project could begin on site in spring 2010 with the hotel operational in summer 2011.

Benmore plans to retain and renovate the historic façade of the Pioneer Buildings, which is not listed but is in Castle Street conservation area and Liverpool's Unesco World Heritage Site.

Ground floor shops facing Dale Street would sit below the hotel and a 300-space car park would be created to the rear.

Benmore has secured an international operator for the hotel subject to gaining planning consent.

Falconer Chester Hall architects in Liverpool designed the Benmore scheme. FCH also designed the recently completed Hope Street Hotel extension.

The company has a £1bn development pipeline across the UK, including a five-star hotel in Manchester's Theatre Royal.

David Burrows, chief executive of Benmore Group, said: "We believe this proposal offers the right blend of assets for a street which is in danger of missing out on the regeneration which has benefited so much of the city centre over the last four to five years.

"There is undoubtedly a demand for further quality hotel beds in the city and we believe our investment in Dale Street will help to attract other investors and to expedite other plans which may be on hold at the moment."

Benmore's application follows closely behind that by InterContinental Hotels Group for a £14m 151-room Indigo hotel to open on Chapel Street in 2011.

David Sayer, director of GVA Grimley in Liverpool, advised Benmore.