Town Centre Securities has received planning consent for a 134-bedroom Ibis Styles Hotel and 4,000 sq ft Marco Pierre White restaurant in Leeds.
The former Merrion Hotel on Wade Lane in the Arena Quarter will be transformed to create the new Ibis Styles Hotel for AccorHotels.
Marco’s New York Italian, a 90-cover restaurant, will open on the hotel’s ground floor in December 2016, as part of a franchise agreement with Marco’s Black and White Hospitality business.
The hotel and restaurant will both be managed by Interstate on behalf of TCS, who will retain the ownership of both properties.
TCS has already invested more than £15m in regenerating the Arena Quarter, including upgrading a 960-space multi-storey car park.
It is also developing the 170,000 sq ft New Merrion House – Leeds City Council’s future headquarters.
Edward Ziff, chairman and chief executive of TCS, said: “This is a landmark announcement for Leeds’ Arena Quarter.
“The Ibis Styles Hotel will provide stylish accommodation for visitors to the city.
“Furthermore, welcoming the world-renowned and Leeds-born Marco Pierre White for his first restaurant in the city is tremendous news and a sign of the appeal of the Arena Quarter as a location.”
