After the surprise closure of a Tyneside hotel the landowner — property giant The Crown Estate — has now unveiled plans for a shopping park on the site.
In July, staff and guests at the Travelodge on North Tyneside’s Silverlink retail park, were given just hours notice of the budget hotel’s closure and transferred to other sites in the chain. In a statement the company said: “The landlord that owns the building has given Travelodge notice of their intention to use this site for another purpose.”
At the time the Crown Estate would only say it was “considering options for the future of the site”. It refused to explain the apparent rush to close down the 126-bedroom hotel.
Now, four months on, it has confirmed a planning application has been submitted to North Tyneside Council for a major expansion of the Silverlink Shopping Park, one of 16 it owns across the UK.
The proposal, which would also see the royal property manager pay for road and footpath improvements, includes replacing the old hotel with 102,000 sq ft of new retail space split into four units with Next Home and Garden expected to lease a flagship store.
Hannah Milne is regional portfolio manager with The Crown Estate. “Redeveloping the former hotel will allow us to bring new retailers to the park, further enhancing the shopping experience for all. At the same time, we will be creating a number of jobs locally as well as improving highways infrastructure,” she explained.
One of the region’s biggest shopping parks, Silverlink currently has more than 252,000 sq ft of retail space leased to national companies such as Marks & Spencer, H & M, River Island, JD Sports, Boots, Outfit, Argos and Currys-PC World.
With North Tyneside planners expected to approve the scheme within weeks, demolition and construction work should start early next year. Completion is slated for autumn 2016. “This exciting new development is great news for North Tyneside,” commented mayor Norma Redfearn.
“It will bring further investment and jobs to the borough as well as attracting many more visitors to the very popular Silverlink complex with its quality shops, restaurants and cinema,” she added.
The Crown Estate acquired the Silverlink hotel site in 2012 when it was put up for sale by Christie & Co on behalf of Piccadilly Hotels, who were then leasing the building to Travelodge Hotels Ltd.
