UNVEILED: £7m vision for Blackpool promenade
An artist's impression of the New South Promenade
Published: 07:21 Monday 01 February 2016
Exclusive first plans which will see a key stretch of Blackpool Promenade transformed have been revealed.
It is hoped the £7m scheme to replace the Kimberley, Waldorf and Henderson Hotels on Wimbourne Place, South Promenade, with 99 apartments will go before council planners in February.
Architect Michael Joyce, who has designed the complex, said: "Consultations are taking place with potential developers who are interested in carrying out the work.
"The proposal is for a modern, prestigious complex of upmarket flats.
"The feeling is that if they are prestigious, there will be a high demand for them.
"Planning officers have intimated they are happy with the design of the project and we are hoping it will go to the February meeting of the planning committee.
"If approval is granted, the owners would hope a sale would take place in the near future with a view to the development proceeding fairly quickly.
"It will be the first phase of regeneration of this area."
The scheme would see the hotels demolished and replaced with a five-to-seven storey high building.
It is the third set of plans to come forward for this particular site in recent years.
The first bid to redevelop the site with 166 apartments was thrown out by council planners in 2009 because the proposals did not include any holiday accommodation.
Another application was lodged in 2014 for 139 apartments but was later withdrawn.
There are also plans in the pipeline to redevelop neighbouring parts of New South Promenade.
In August Blackpool-based Create Development secured planning permission for an £8.5m scheme to build a four-storey 130 bedroom hotel on the site of the vacant Palm Beach and Bourne Hotels, also on Wimbourne Place.
It is scheduled to become a Hamptons by Hilton hotel.
The Palm Beach is now due to be demolished, along with The Warwick, which is owned by UK Holiday Group, but which has been closed for more than three years.
The latest blueprint for the Kimberley, Waldorf and Henderson Hotels has been scaled back to 99 apartments, but some residents have submitted objections because they warn the proposed building will overshadow their homes.