Plans go in for new Inverness hotel to replace Ironworks music venue
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PROPOSALS for a 162-bedroom hotel in Inverness city centre are set to take a step forward today when developers lodge a planning application.
Bricks Group will submit finalised designs for the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Academy Street which will be able to cater for up to 100,000 guests a year and also include a 24-hour gym.
It would employ 90 people during construction, with 65 permanent jobs thereafter.
If it wins approval, the popular live music venue, the Ironworks, will have to move out of its rented 1000-capacity premises.
Its director Caroline Campbell has been involved in behind-the-scenes talks with Highlands and Islands Labour MSP David Stewart, Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Creative Scotland and High Life Highland in a bid to find a new home for the venue.
Mr Stewart said people would be worried about what was going to happen to the Ironworks and called on the Scottish Government to come up with some answers in finding a new venue.
Invernessian Allan Davidson, chief operating officer of Bricks, is delighted to have reached the stage of submitting a planning application with architects having undertaken considerable work
“Our aim, given a fair wind in the planning process, is for the hotel to open in 2021 and be a further positive step in the council’s efforts to regenerate Academy Street.”
Recommendations by Highland Council planning officials have been taken on board, including shaping the building to offer views of church spires, including the Old High Church, to visitors approaching from the east.
The company, whose new 197-bedroom hotel at Silverstone motor racing circuit opens this summer, hopes to have planning consent for the Inverness project by then.
It had already offered the Ironworks the chance to remain open throughout this year and enjoyed good relations with Ms Campbell.
“While most new hotel developers have a habit of building then selling, our strategy is to retain ownership of our hotels,” he said.
“It is my intention to personally oversee the construction and operation of the Courtyard by Marriott in the centre of my home city.”
Bricks Group has been encouraged by a public consultation and a survey placing Inverness ahead of Edinburgh at the top of the Scottish hotels index.
“Market trends show that if the city is unable to cope with visitor volume, people will go elsewhere next time and the Inverness accommodation sector risks losing out,” he said.
Ms Campbell has been aware of the plans since talks started.
“During the process, we have continued to service our long-standing customer base with a diverse range of acts and maintained our commitment to ensuring audiences in the Highlands and Islands have access to high-quality artists in their immediate geography, many of which would arguably not have visited the region without a purpose-built venue of this nature based in the north of Scotland,” she said.
“We are now looking at the next strategic phase for the business and are actively engaged in assessing the options available to us going forward.”
She thanked everyone for their support over the last 12 years and said she would give further updates to audiences when she was in a position to do so.
