Hotel is set to replace an eyesore

THIS is the four star hotel set to open in Newcastle city centre at the site of the former Newgate Shopping Centre.

The 1960s-built shopping centre was torn down last year and will be replaced by a hotel, student accommodation and shopping scheme.

It has since been announced that Dalata Hotel Group - Ireland’s largest hotel operator - will open a luxury Maldron hotel at the site, its first in the UK.

Work is now under way and hotel bosses hope to be up and running by the end of 2018.

Dalata has signed a 35-year lease with McAleer & Rushe, the Northern Ireland-based developer leading the project, for a new four-star Maldron Hotel, their eighth under the upmarket brand.

The 100,000 sq ft, six-storey hotel will be developed by McAleer & Rushe, which has worked closely with Dalata on a wide range of projects throughout the UK and Ireland.

It is believed at least 100 jobs will be created once the hotel is complete.

The hotel will have 226 air-conditioned bedrooms, a bar, restaurant and business centre facilities.

Alongside the flagship hotel, the redevelopment of the former Newgate Centre comprises 185,000 sqft of student accommodation operated by the Unite Group Plc to deliver 575 beds, as well as 20,000 sqft of modern retail and leisure space.

The original centre – bounded by Grainger Street, Clayton Street and Falconer’s Court – was opened in 1969 but the majority of the units lay vacant, and the design was considered to have a negative impact on the city’s Central Conservation Area.