After almost a year of back and forth, plans to convert Admiralty Arch into a 160-room luxury hotel have been given the green light
The history of London’s Admiralty Arch, which acts like a bridge above the Mall and boasts views of Buckingham Palace on one side and Trafalgar Square on the other, has been a rocky one.
Built in honour of Queen Victoria the Grade I listed building was mainly used for official government work, before losing out to Whitehall and beginning to fall into disrepair at the start of this century.
In October last year it was finally given a new breath of life when the government decided to lease the building to Prime Investors Capital for £60m.
PIC quickly laid out plans to transform the site into a five-star hotel with a ballroom, spa and fine dining restaurant, although their vision soon hit a bump. Only last week it was reported that Westminster City Council was looking to reject the development unless PIC coughed up more for social housing.
But less than a week later the Council seems to have backed down, accepting PIC’s original offer to give £600,000 for social housing and a further £100,000 for “public art”.
The hotel is expected to be finished in 2015.
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