'Council should buy unfinished flagship hotel'

The nine-storey Hilton Hotel is part of the wider regeneration of Fletton Quays

A new company could be created if Peterborough City Council decides to buy an unfinished flagship hotel.

The council's cabinet will be updated on the future of the Hilton Hotel in Fletton Quays at a meeting on 16 July.

A report to the cabinet will recommend that the council buys the hotel, which remains only part-completed.

Cecilie Booth, executive director for corporate services, said safeguarding the council's existing investment in the hotel was an “overriding priority” for the authority.

The report says a new company would be in the council's best interests for legal and tax reasons, and that other councils had taken such an approach.

The hotel has so far cost the council £17m. But work came to a halt in 2020 when the developer went into administration.

The cabinet report says the full costs to complete the nine-storey hotel are being finalised. The council is also looking at whether it should complete the project itself or sell it to a third party.

Ms Booth said: “We are progressing at pace because we want to see work begin to complete the hotel as quickly as possible.

“A further report will go to cabinet in the coming months once the business case has been completed, with a recommendation as to how we should proceed.

“It remains our overriding priority to protect the investment made by the council so far and to see the hotel open as quickly as possible.”