Boutique hotel group BLOC has unveiled plans for a 270ft, 25-storey hotel to sit opposite Birmingham’s new John Lewis store, in the city’s Southside district.
Plans for the Glenn Howells Architects-designed BLOC Grand Central hotel have been submitted to Birmingham City Council. The building will be one of the tallest in the city – with the Hyatt Regency on Broad Street and the Radisson Blu Hotel at Smallbrook Queensway – if it gets the go ahead.
The new BLOC hotel will sit just 50 paces from the iconic Spanish Steps entrance to New Street station, John Lewis and the Grand Central shopping mall and will comprise 238 rooms – 194 standard hotel rooms and 44 aparthotel rooms. It will sit on the site of the largely vacant 1960s built Gallan House, on Hill Street, which will be demolished.
BLOC already operates a 73-bedroom hotel in the city’s historic Jewellery Quarter.
Managing director Rob Morgan said: “BLOC Grand Central will be a defining moment in the company’s growth strategy. Our first hotel was in Birmingham and we want to continue to invest in the city where the brand was born.”
A decision on the planning application will be made by September and subject to consent, work will start on site in January 2017, with completion due by the end of 2018.
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