Peterborough City Council close to naming partner to finish Hilton Garden Inn
Timetable of works to complete hotel still to be drawn up
Peterborough City Council is closing in on selecting a contractor to complete the city’s multi-million pound Hilton Garden Inn.
It is understood the local authority is near to deciding on a partner company that will finish building the nine-storey hotel that has been standing unfinished since October 2023 when the council took the then developer into administration.
The move was promoted by concerns at the length of time in which no work appeared to have been done and administrator Teneo later revealed that construction had effectively stopped in March 2023.
The council is now the effective owner of the hotel at Fletton Quays having provided a £15 million loan in 2017 to the developer to get work under way. The amount owed to the council is now reckoned to be £17 million.
Efforts to sell the uncompleted building were scuppered last year after a preferred bidder withdrew at the last minute.
It left the council with little option but to take on the task of overseeing the completion of the 160-bedroom hotel, which is the flagship project for the Fletton Quays regeneration scheme.
Councillor Mohammed Jamil, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Governance, said: "We remain committed to seeing the Hilton Garden Inn Peterborough development through to completion and work is continuing at pace.
"As well as progressing with the acquisition of the hotel, we are also in the process of selecting a contractor partner to complete the development.
"Initially there will be a focus on surveying and validating existing works, developing the project programme and timescales for completion of construction works, and agreeing contract terms with the partner.
He said: “It remains our overriding priority to protect the investment made by the council, which includes ensuring we achieve best value from the contract to complete the hotel."
The council has also confirmed that Cecilie Booth, the local authority’s executive director of corporate services and Section 151 officer, who is to leave at the end of March, will stay on specifically to project manage the development.