Hotel plan for long-derelict site
A six storey 156-bedroom hotel is set to be built on a key piece of land in Inverness city centre which has lain derelict for almost 15 years.
Aberdeen company Carlton Rock is planning the development on the 1.4 acre former Glebe Street swimming baths site. It would include three meeting rooms, a bar, a dining room and a gym.
The company has already submitted an application for a provisional premises licence, which will be considered by the local authority on Tuesday.
Neither Carlton Rock nor its agents, solicitors Ledingham Chalmers, was willing to discuss the project. But news that the problem site may at last be developed was warmly welcomed in Inverness.
The land was originally sold by Highland Council to the Tulloch Group, for use as a hotel and conference centre, but that never materialised. In 2008, planning permission for a four-star 165-bedroom hotel with 80 car parking spaces was granted to Aberdeen-based European Development Company (Inverness Hotel). However, that expired this month and the company confirmed it was no longer involved in the project.
City leader, Councillor Ian Brown, hoped that a solution had at last been found for the gateway location.
"Hopefully this will go forward because it is such a prominent site," he said. "Invernessians hold this close to their heart and just see it as a waste at the moment."
Stewart Nicol, Inverness Chamber of Commerce chief executive, stressed the area’s economic importance.
"It looks tired and an eyesore and needs fixed and is in a very prominent location, so it would be good to see something there rather than what we currently have," he said.
"There are signs that it remains a prestige development, which is great for the city. When it happens there will be construction jobs and operational jobs when it is up and running. It would be good to see this intent come to fruition."
In October, the site was identified in the Inverness City Centre Development Brief as a possible home for a piece of iconic public art.
It was also suggested it could be developed for housing or business use if no hotel developer came forward.
Charles Leakey, who runs a second-hand and antiquarian bookshop in Church Street, thought whatever was built there should be appropriate.
"It is high time that site was used," he said. "The architecture of any building that is put there is so important to the appearance of the town."
Inverness Civic Trust chairman John West agreed, adding he was interested in the height and scale of the proposed building, which is set to have between 21 and 39 guest bedrooms on each floor.
"We are glad to see some movement being made because it is pretty unsatisfactory at present," he said. "It is an iconic site and we very much look forward to seeing what is proposed because we wouldn’t want it to be out of character."
SDG Tulloch — a joint venture involving the Inverness-based Tulloch Group and Edinburgh development company Valad — was put the site up for sale with Eric Young and Company, of Edinburgh, last summer.
Senior surveyor Simon Bashford, who is handling the sale, refused to comment.
