Fresh plans have been submitted to convert a luxury and boutique apart hotel in Southport town centre into a 19-bed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).
The initial planning application for Hotel 21, at 21B Stanley Street, just behind Lord Street in Southport town centre, was rejected by Sefton Council in October.
The local authority said not enough private amenity space would be provided with the 20-bedroom building.
A local councillor also raised his concerns about a lack of “good hotel accommodation” in the town centre, especially at a time when the new £73 million Marine Lake Events Centre is being built.
New plans have now been submitted which still call for a 19 bed HMO, but with some small alterations to the original plans.
In a statement by Woolrich Hunter on behalf of Manchester Real Estate, it says: “Historically, the existing building’s intended use was likely to be storage / warehousing to the large retail units fronting Lord Street.
“Most recently, in 2019, the building underwent a significant extension and renovation to an apart-hotel (20 rooms) with communal facilities, including internal alterations, demolition and rebuilding the front upper facade raising the roof to create two further floors and a three storey extension to the side.
“The proposal seeks planning permission for the change of use of this 20-bed apart hotel to a 19 bed large HMO.
“Following the original submission, an element to the tear of the building is proposed to be demolished to provide additional external amenity space.
“Each unit is furnished with a private shower / wet room together with an Elfin Kitchen unit for light sustenance preparation. There are large shared communal kitchen / dining / living spaces located at the ground floor and upper (third) floor respectively. All redietnt internal provision, both private and shared, greatly exceed the minimum required HMO standards.
“The purpose is to continue to offer high quality, affordable shared accommodation to working professional people such as key workers, graduates, local workers and those on secondment from established employment (not intended for students).
“Manchester Real Estate Ltd is a family business with over 20 years’ experience in the property industry, with portfolios in the UK and abroad.
“MRE provides premium accommodation to professionals who require luxury living arrangements in Southport and the surrounding areas, with either short or long term contracts and to suit most budgets.
“They have a locally established and experienced team who are dedicated to caring for their tenants and ensure that all properties are all refurbished on a regular basis and maintained to a very high standard.”
Rooms at the 20-bedroom venue have recently been advertised for a minimum of £69 per night while the Penthouse Suite is available for £118 per night.
On its website, it says: “Hotel 21 is a luxury and Boutique Apart Hotel with 20 apartments and rooms. It is a perfect combination of contemporary technology with elegant designs to form a calm and luxurious experience. Hotel 21 is a cool and clean Apart Hotel with simple but elegant styling and tactile textures.”
In its original application, Manchester Real Estate Ltd said: “The town centre has been in decline in terms of economic activity and footfall for a number of years.
“It is now widely recognised that a credible solution to stop this national trend is to populate town centres, which brings vitality back into the towns which then makes town centres viable again.”
“This HMO will help address the need for key worker accommodation. There is an identified need nationally for housing for key workers to enable our core facilities to operate properly.
“An HMO for professionals such as this provides an affordable option for key workers to live near their place of work in high quality accommodation.”
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