A REVISED application has been made to an apart-hotel development planned in Reading town centre.
In December 2022, Reading borough councillors approved a project by Thackeray Estates to convert or rebuild buildings on the corner of Friar Street and Queen Victoria Street.
The ground floor units in Queen Victoria Street will keep the same square footage, but instead of being four shops, it is proposed to reduce that to three. This would make them larger, and also help with proposed changes to a lobby entrance for the apartment-hotel rooms.
The commercial units on Friar Street would also increase in size.
Justifying the adaptations, a planning agent from Falconer Chester Hall said: “The applicant currently has two offers from national retailers that will anchor the scheme.
“However, the interest they have secured will fall away if we do not get permission to vary the use class.”
Thackeray Estates is therefore applying for more flexible use of the ground floor units.
For the upper floors, internal changes would allow the number of apartment-hotel rooms to be increased by three rooms – from 103 to 107.
The planning agent said: “Thackeray Estate is currently in legal discussions with the preferred partner as there is a significant interest for the apart-hotel.
“One crucial point is the hotelier is seeking more bed spaces as they consider the site a prime location.”
The development will also include a fully-fledged hotel with 163 rooms on Friar Street.
This will see the Revolucion De Cuba building demolished and replaced with a Leonardo Hotel.
Eye Site, which occupied one of the units set for demolition, relocated to Broad Street earlier this month.
And The Bugle pub will be incorporated into the hotel.
Initially, the company said the first phase would have taken 14-15 months to build, with the hotel taking around 18 months.
Thackeray Estates is now hoping to begin work in November and complete both projects by January 2026.
The changes require approval from the council, and the proposals can be seen by searching for references 240422 and 240404 on Reading Borough Council’s planning portal.
