Home   News   Article

Redundant Inverness office block to be transformed into new hotel


By Val Sweeney

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!
An artist's impression of the proposed hotel in Church Street.
An artist's impression of the proposed hotel in Church Street.

Highland Council planners have granted permission for a former office block to be turned into a 76-bedroom hotel.

Axcel Hospitality – whose portfolio includes Hilton, Marriott and Accor Hotels – is behind the proposed conversion of a former four-storey office block in Church Street, Inverness previously occupied by the Department of Work and Pensions.

It says it will add to the vision of a vibrant city centre.

The venture, which also includes a bar, restaurant and gym, is among a wave of nearby tourist accommodation projects either proposed or in the pipeline.

They include the conversion of Bridge House, also in Church Street, into a 79-bedroom boutique hotel while the Bricks Group has submitted detailed plans to demolish the music venue the Ironworks, in Academy Street, and build a Courtyard by Marriott Hotel on the site.

Plans for a 175-bedroom Mariott hotel on derelict land in Glebe Street were also given the go-ahead in December.

City business and civic leaders have welcomed approval for the project by Axcel Hospitality which will give a £42,000 boost to active travel projects in the city centre under an agreement regarding developer contributions.

Highland Council planning officers, who approved the project using delegated powers, agreed the amount in lieu of the lack of adequate car parking.

Other conditions include visual improvements to the façade, a construction noise management plan and the provision of cycle parking.

The hotel will replace the former Department of Work and Pensions office in Church Street, Inverness.
The hotel will replace the former Department of Work and Pensions office in Church Street, Inverness.

A design statement submitted last year in support of the application stated it would generate tourism, boost the economy and bring jobs.

The premises became empty last year when 120 staff with the Department of Work and Pensions moved to join their Jobcentre Plus colleagues in River House, Young Street.

Stewart Nicol, chief executive of the Inverness Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the granting of planning permission, noting it had been about a year since the project was first mooted.

“It is very good news – it is right in the heart of the Old Town as well as being in the city centre,” he said.

“Obviously we are in the middle of a global pandemic which is challenging all businesses but we have to look to the future.

“We will get our tourism visitors back and the city and region has a phenomenal amount to offer visitors.

“Part of that offering is a good range of hotels across the wider Highlands and certainly in the city centre.”

He said the conversion work would create job opportunities.

Mike Smith, manager of the Inverness Business Improvement District, was also delighted.

“This is an important site running between the river and Church Street,” he said. “When it is developed, it will add vitality to the area.

“I look forward to hearing more about the timescales for the plans being implemented.”

Inverness Central councillor and depute provost Bet McAllister believed it would encourage people to take a break in the Highland capital as tourism recovers.

“I think this project is a good idea,” she said.

Click here for more news


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More