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Boutique hotel plans for empty Corn Street buildings
A new “car free, boutique” hotel could open up in Bristol city centre if the council allows it.
Big Sur Properties has submitted plans for a 126-bed, car-free hotel on Corn Street.
The hotel, described as “affordable and stylish accommodation for short stays”, would occupy two vacant buildings between Pizza Express and the Commercial Rooms.
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The developer already has planning permission to convert the buildings, one of which is Grade-II listed, into student accommodation.
But the boarded-up former office blocks, which had a restaurant and a bar at street level, could instead become a car-free hotel with cycle storage in the basement.
The developer wants to build a 126-bed boutique hotel
The hotel rooms would be on the upper floors.
“Typical bedrooms will be smaller than traditional hotel bedrooms at around 12-15 sq m,” according to planning papers on Bristol City Council’s website.
The biggest rooms would sit on the seventh floor of the 1964 office block next to the Commercial Rooms at 41 Corn Street.
The ground floor of that building, where Pranj’s Bar used to be, would have the main entrance, reception and a cafe/bar area in a “dramatic internal space” created by an vertical atrium lightwell to the roof, according to planning papers.
A hotel restaurant with a separate street entrance would occupy the ground floor of the narrow building next door, at 37-39 Corn Street, which was originally built as a bank.
Architect O’LearyGoss said the listed building will have its Portland stone facade restored and an extra storey added.
Together with extensions planned for the rear of the larger building next door, the floor area of the planned hotel will exceed that of the existing buildings by about 13 per cent and the planned student flats by about 7 per cent.
The basements of both buildings would contain the kitchen, storage and staff area for the restaurant and the back of house facilities, including rubbish and recycling, cycle storage.
All collections and deliveries would be from Corn Street.
Bristol City Council has already indicated it is likely to accept the plans.
The proposed hotel will take over two empty properties on Corn Street
Responding to a pre-application submission in June of last year, it wrote: “Subject to detail and justification, the change of use of the building to deliver a car free boutique hotel at the upper levels with active ground floor town centres uses is likely to be acceptable.”
Tom Eschelby, managing director of Stelling Properties, which acts on behalf of the developer, said getting planning permission for the hotel would mean the developer could choose whether to build a hotel or student flats.
“We are weighing up our options as to what to do with it,” he said. “We may sell it to another developer.”
Amanda Cameron is a local democracy reporter for Bristol
Read more: Behind the scenes at Bristol’s Harbour Hotel
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