A proposals for a four-storey, 45 bedroom hotel and restaurant/cafe in Cliftonville has been submitted to Thanet council.
Long Eaton Development Ltd has applied to create the hotel at the empty plot of the former Beano café and amusement arcade which were gutted in a blaze in 2009.
Planning documents say the venture would create “a boost to local employment, the redevelopment of a vacant brownfield site in a sustainable location, and the delivery of a mixed-use scheme.”
A café is planned for the ground floor and basement level of the proposed building. The hotel rooms will be on the rear of the ground floor as well as on the first, second and third floors. There will also be a ‘green’ roof and the design is pledged to “incorporate a sympathetic architectural design which takes cues from the detailing of surrounding buildings.”
The developer states: “The development proposed can be expected to generate up to 12 full time jobs contributing to the availability of employment in the district.”
Limited parking is proposed with the developer saying future occupants of the development would be reliant on walking, cycling, and public transport.
A decision on the plan is yet to be made. Find the documents on the Thanet council planning page, reference F/TH/20/0873
Other hotel plans for Margate include the 124 bedroom, 5-storey ‘lifestyle’ hotel proposed by Dreamland’s operating company, Margate Estates.
Approved in February 2019, the six storey hotel will also contain a gymnasium, meeting rooms, a shop or café with frontage onto Marine Terrace, a restaurant and bar at the ground floor and a rooftop bar.
Under the proposals Ziggy’s rooftop bar and an adjoining empty building will be flattened. It will also use the space at ‘Godden’s Gap’ where the amusement arcade stood. The four-storey Mr G’s arcade burnt to the ground in 2003. Some 120 firefighters tackle the blaze at its height.
It is not clear whether the pandemic, which has caused the closure of Dreamland rides and cancellation of most events for 2020, will impact the scheme.
In May 2018 approval was also given for a seven-storey, 117 bed hotel in Cliftonville.
Guy Hollaway Architects submitted the application for the multi-coloured hotel on the corner of Ethelbert Crescent.
The building, proposed for Hosers Corner, will have a unique multi-colour metal façade, which the architects say “ reflects the famous Margate deck chair and plays on the regeneration of tourism and culture that is being seen throughout this eclectic seaside town.”
The hotel is expected to cater to the rise of artists moving into the town attracted by the rejuvenation of Dreamland, Turner Contemporary and the new Carl Freedman gallery and Tracey Emin studios at the former Thanet Press building in Union Crescent.
The scheme is yet to be implemented.
