Former post office £26m hotel 'being evaluated'

The Grade II listed former post office building in Blackpool town centre

The viability of transforming a former post office in Blackpool into a hotel is still being evaluated, the council has said.

The building, on Abingdon Street, is the subject of £26m proposals to become an Indigo-branded hotel and restaurant.

However while sold signs went up outside the town centre building in March and contracts were exchanged after planners approved the scheme, Blackpool Council said it was still being assessed.

The Grade II listed building has been owned by Fylde-based businessman Joe Thompson since 2015.

The site, which also includes the former sorting office on Edward Street, is due to be sold to developer Ashall Hospitality in a deal supported by £8m of Levelling Up funding awarded to the council by the previous Conservative government.

A Blackpool Council spokesperson said: "In collaboration with Ashall Hospitality, we are conducting preliminary surveys and feasibility assessments.

"These findings will guide our evaluation of the scheme's viability before any decisions are confirmed."

Disrepair

Some of the £8m of Levelling Up funding is being used to carry out surveys, while the rest will be released in instalments towards the purchase and construction phases once the purchase is hopefully completed.

Developers want to convert it into a hotel with 150 rooms.

The ground floor would also include a restaurant and bar for hotel guests and non-residents, with frontages on both Abingdon Street and Edward Street, with the design incorporating the old post office counter.

In January the council approved a grant funding agreement with Ashall Hospitality (Blackpool) LLP.

Once a busy hub of activity in the town centre, the building has been empty since 2007 and has since fallen into disrepair, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

On several occasions police have had to deal with groups of youths who have climbed onto its roof, including a recent incident when firefighters attended with an aerial ladder.

Abingdon street Post office was designed by architect Walter Pott and first opened in 1910.