Global boutique hotel brand M Gallery is set to bring five-star luxury to Dundee’s redeveloped waterfront.
Plans show the city’s historic Custom House and Harbour Chambers are to be turned into prestigious visitor accommodation, complete with 38 bedrooms, a bar and restaurant-brasserie in a multi-million-pound renovation, after permissions for redevelopment were granted.
It is now understood Prestige Hotel Management, which expects to complete its purchase of the property in the coming weeks, is in talks to operate the top-end brand at the central Waterfront location.
The Edinburgh-based firm’s director Scott Weatherby last night declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for worldwide hotel group and M Gallery brand owner Accor.
However, the move looks set to bring the City of Discovery into an exclusive family of locations served by the distinguished hotel name and to generate dozens of high-class service jobs.
Bath and the St James area of London are the only two UK sites to feature an M Gallery hotel but the 58-hotel chain includes a number of locations in the Caribbean, South East Asia and Australia, North Africa and across Europe.
The brand’s hotels, promoted by actress Kristin Scott Thomas, highlight design and architecture and frequently promote heritage as one of three unifying “themes”.
Planning documents for the prominent Dock Street site focus on many of the building’s original features, with work by local tradesmen expected to be protected and enhanced by development work.
Listed planning consent and planning permission have already been granted for renovation works, with an agreement said to be in place for the site once renovation is complete.
Workmen are expected to be on site this summer, with the hotel opening its doors in late 2014.
The news comes as it was announced three new hotels are expected to open in central Dundee during the next two years, effectively doubling the city centre’s bedroom capacity to more than 500.
Work on the former Tay Hotel soon to become the newest branch of the Malmaison chain continues, while operators are also being sought for a new station hotel, built as part of the redevelopment of the transport hub.
Combined, the three represent an investment of almost £30 million and an anticipated total of more than 200 new jobs.
Alongside the existing Apex City Quay, Premier Inn and Holiday Express locations, a 180-bed hotel site is also planned for the Greenmarket, while the rebranding of the Landmark Hotel as a Doubletree Hilton is expected to take place in the spring.
Around £130m of capital projects will be either begun or completed during 2013, taking the total amount of committed investment to half the Waterfront’s overall £1bn target.
Highlights include the start of works on the £45m V&A project and the £14m station redevelopment, further demolitions and the handover of the £32m swimming pool at East Whale Lane.