Hotel developer chosen as preferred bidder

NATIONAL hotel developers selected as preferred bidders for an opulent Perth city centre property are tabling a bid of just £1.

Perth and Kinross Council would also foot the bill for £1.9 million in heritage funding to upgrade and maintain the stained glass and other historic features at 1-5 High Street if proposals are signed off.

The move has been slammed because on the same day a prospective developer was selected for the boutique hotel, councillors narrowly voted against pleas to hand over a much smaller vacant public building to a community group in Kinloch Rannoch for the same £1 fee.

The council wants to save the £143,000 per year currently needed to run the city centre building and believes the cutprice offer is the best way to draw in investors.

Planners say revamping the premises could cost more than £7m and the subsidised asking price will draw in wealthy developers. Henley Homes Group was announced as the preferred bidder. The firm wants to renovate the building through its Rogue City Hotel Group.

This decision, while not binding either party to an agreement, allows the council to start negotiations with the group.

Local authority chiefs would also have to turn to prudential borrowing to garner the seven-figure funds mandated for restoring and preserving the historic facade.

Perth and Kinross Council says it is looking at a long-term benefit, expecting the project to bring in millions of pounds a year and create more than 100 jobs during construction and a further 71 jobs after its revamp.

SNP group leader Grant Laing said: “I’m not against a boutique hotel at the site, I’m against selling a major asset for £1, losing control of the building and having to borrow £1.9m.It’s not the right deal or the right time.”

A council spokesman said: “The council proposes to borrow from the Public Works Loan Board with the costs met from savings made through not having to operate the building.”