Peterborough City Council submits £16.7 million credit bid to take control of unfinished Hilton Garden Inn

A key step has been taken by Peterborough City Council as it seeks to take ownership of the partly built Hilton Garden Inn.

Officers have confirmed that a credit bid for the freehold of the nine-storey building at Fletton Quays has now been submitted to administrators Teneo.

The administrators were appointed last October by the council after developer, Fletton Quays Hotel, ran out of money and stopped construction work.

The credit bid is worth up to £16.7 million, and is made up of the council’s original £15 million loan to the developer in 2017 and interest.

It is expected to take just weeks for the administrators, who currently control the hotel, to make a decision.

If a larger bid from another company is submitted, it could be accepted by the administrator with the money used to repay the city council.

Cecilie Booth, the council’s the council’s executive director of corporate services and Section 151 officer, has previously told the Peterborough Telegraph that once the bid is accepted, the aim would be to try and get the hotel open by next summer.

She said: “The hotel is 85 to 90 per cent finished. The sky bar, the communal area at the front, and many rooms have not yet been finished. There is about six to nine months work to be done.”

Completion is likely to cost £14.4 million with some expected to come from government grants. £10 million has already been set aside.

A business case outlining future options for the hotel is expected to presented to councillors in July.