Developer delight as Bricks Group £30m hotel bid gets planning permission in Highland capital for a 155-room Courtyard by Marriott creating 65 staff jobs
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The company behind the hotel which will replace the Ironworks music venue with a Courtyard by Marriott says it is "absolutely delighted" after it finally go planning permission.
However it does not mean the Ironworks will stop working as the hotel developer Bricks Group says it will meet with the venue's management to work out "a mutually agreeable timetable".
Despite numerous setbacks – including once being refused planning outright and having to return to the drawing board – the company persisted in its plans.
At one stage it even considered opting to develop another project – a halls of residence for students – which did have planning permission.
Now Allan Davidson, the Invernessian who is chief operating officer of Bricks Group, said: "We’re absolutely delighted that we’ve been successful and that we can look forward to providing my home city with a new hotel to meet the demand which industry experts have predicted.
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“We will now sit down with the Iron Works management with the aim of reaching a mutually agreeable timetable.
“This approval brings a £30 million inward investment to Inverness and will assist the city centre’s economic recovery. There will be 65 full-time jobs in addition to more than 100 jobs in the construction phase.
“It has been a long journey to reach this point but we liaised very closely with the Highland Council planners and its Historic Environment Team and Design Review Panel to make the amendments which allowed them all to recommend approval.
“We’ll be taking stock of the situation and devising an action plan to deliver, in due course, a project which will be an asset to the city.”
