DEVELOPERS in York hope to know by today whether the final piece of red tape will be removed to allow them to start work on a £100 million five-star hotel project between Harrogate and York.
The Skelwith Group is hoping its revised plans for the five-star Flaxby Hotel and road improvements on the A59 will be passed at Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee this afternoon. If so, it will mean the final obstacle has been removed so work can start this summer.
As many as 278 of the 298 bedrooms planned for the site, opposite RR Donnellys printers on the A59, have already been sold to private investors, including golf champion Lee Westwood and former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan.
Investors, who paid from £200,000 for a double room to £700,000 for a presidential suite, get a guaranteed return for a minimum of three years and thereafter a 50 per cent share of room profit.
The Skelwith Group argues that with more than 250 construction workers on site at any one time, and up to 400 jobs created when the hotel is operational, it will provide a massive boost to the local and regional economy.
Paul Ellis, the Skelwith Group’s managing director, said: “The contractor is signed up, we have a first-class hotel operator on board and funding secured. This is the last piece in the jigsaw to bring this fantastic development to fruition and to make it a reality. “The development of the hotel will help to increase the local economy and we are looking for local suppliers and businesses to create ‘Yorkshire’s Resort’ and highlight the best that the area has to offer.”
The Flaxby Country Resort will also include bars, restaurants, a luxury spa, restaurants and boutiques and the 240,000 ft development will be set around the existing 27-hole golf course, nestling in nearly 300 acres of Yorkshire Countryside.
Opening is expected by the end of 2011 and Wates Construction has been signed up as main contractor.
The course will be bidding for the 2022 Ryder Cup, and Lee Westwood has been signed up as the course professional from 2011 onwards.
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