Multimillion pound hotel proposed at Durham Cricket Club
Plans for a £27m hotel at Durham Cricket Club have been revealed.
Images released by the County Durham Cricket Club detail the creation of a 150-bedroom hotel which could be operated as a Hilton Garden Inn.
If plans are approved, it is expected that the construction of the hotel would take around two years.
Proposals for a hotel at the cricket ground, which is based at The Riverside in Chester-le-Street have been considered for around 15 years, however challenging trading conditions and the Pandemic have hampered these plans.
The ground’s CEO, Tim Bostock, said the proposals are “not just a vanity project” for the cricket club.
“It’s actually making a big contribution, for the regeneration and jobs of Chester-le-Street but also for the whole expansion of Durham’s tourism and everything in place for the City of Culture. And it fits in to the long term strategy for Visit Durham because there’s obviously a shortage of hotel rooms”, he added.
So far the cricket club has spent half a million pounds finalising the proposal during the last six months, which is expected to be submitted within the coming weeks. An initial estimate of the total cost of £22m has now increased, due to new building regulations and net zero requirements.
However, the club’s analysis suggests that the hotel could significantly boost turnover.
Bostock added: “We’re confident it will added another £5.2m onto our annual turnover which takes it to £13-14m, not far off an 80% increase in turnover. The clear net profit would also be more than £1m, which is game-changing. That means we can pay off all our debt and we can start to really invest in the growth of the club then, on the field and off the field, which is great.”