Coming to city

Developers attempting to meet rise in demand

Developers are attempting to meet the increase demand for hotel rooms once the new-look Waterfront is completed and the V&A museum finally opens in 2018.

Including serviced apartments, 968 rooms will be made available if all the developments — some of which are at the planning stage — go ahead.

The latest application being considered is a £20 million proposal for two hotels and a restaurant at the former Robertson’s store in Barrack Street.

Large parts of the existing building will be knocked down and rebuilt for the new hotels which will house 132 and 115 rooms respectively.

Elsewhere in the city, budget chain Sleeperz will open a 120-bed hotel at Dundee’s new-look railway station in March, creating around 30 local jobs.

The new Premier Inn and restaurant at Discovery Quay is due to open before the end of the year.

This will see 149 rooms open for visitors with the company creating 80 jobs as part of the project.

A multi-million pound conversion is currently under way on Focus Hotel Management’s development at the former Bell Mill and North Mill at Lower Dens Works.

Hotel Indigo Dundee will offer 102 guest rooms with the Staybridge Suites set to feature a further 85 rooms. Around 90 jobs will be created between both hotels which are set to open in spring.

In the city centre, planning bosses this month approved a bid to transform a block of offices i nto 27 serviced apartments. hotels, not just high budget hotels or low budget hotels, they are creating a mixture to cater for everyone’s needs. They are definitely creating a city for the future. On average each hotel will offer between 40 to 50 full time jobs.” Assurance Developments Ltd will Alison Henderson, CEO of Dundee convert the six-storey 1970s buildand Angus Chamber of Commerce, ing, at the junction of Crichton believes the hotel sector is one of the Street and Whitehall Crescent. main driving forces in reviving

Developers Robertson are also Dundee’s fortunes. hoping to deliver 88 new apartments She said: “The hotel sector in across two buildings and a 150-bed Dundee at the moment is currently hotel on site six of the Waterfront at really busy and they can’t get enough a cost of £40million. people to fill the jobs.

Spaces are also earmarked for “Next year is going to be absoretail use as well as spaces for reslutely critical. We’ve seen growth taurants, cafes and a bar. already and demand increase this

Richard Ellison, director of year with the cruises and 7 Hospitality, said: events happening. So if “Hospitality tourism is that’s happening before

Whatdo a huge job provider, the V&A has even they are jobs that opened then that’s

youthink? interest people of all really encouraging. ages, the job crea“There’s career tion is definitely paths with all difvery positive. It is ferent jobs and not also important that just frontline custhey are bringing in tomer service the right mix of vacancies.”

ALMOST 1,000 new hotel rooms are to be made available in Dundee — with several major developments near completion