An application for a large 122-bed HMO at the site of a former city centre hotel has been submitted to Hull City Council.
The application seeks to transform the former Portland Hotel on Paragon Street, in Hull city centre, into a 122-bed HMO. Following the closure of the Portland Hotel in 2012, the building, which was once Hull’s first AA four-star hotel has had a peculiar life ranging from a seemingly unfruitful attempt to turn the site into student accommodation, to the building being used an a cannabis factory.
New owners, Knight Wood Portfolio Limited, which planning documents stress are not associated with any of the previous issues the building has faced, have now revealed ambitious plans to provide the building with a new lease of life. The application submitted to the council details plans to provide 122 “well designed and comfortable HMO rooms” between the building’s first and sixth floors.
Plans explain the building with have “generous kitchen facilities” at “several locations on each floor.” However, each bedroom will be fitted with a kitchenette area for tenants who “happen to be more private by nature.”
The number of occupants on each floor would be as follows:
- First floor: 13
- Second floor: 29
- Third floor: 20
- Fourth floor: 20
- Fifth floor: 20
- Sixth floor: 20
Each floor with have “sufficient facilities to wash and dry their clothes” with an an approximate 1:5 ratio of occupants to machines being planned to be implemented on each floor.
(Image: Hull City Council Planning Portal – Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson)
The application also includes a refresh for the building’s tired looking exterior. The visual improvements would include a refurbished mosaic tiling facade at the lower levels and new glazing to the upper levels.
The site would also boast a number of communal areas for residents including a gym, a cinema room, and communal working areas for those who may work from home.
The application will now be assessed by Hull City Council.
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