'Eyesore' hotel to be bought and demolished
Wolverhampton City Council is to buy and demolish an “eyesore” city centre hotel, in a bid to jump-start larger scale regeneration and development of the city centre.
The 133-room, seven-storey Fox Hotel has seen transformation plans for it stall badly, so the council is hoping that the demolition and clearing of the site will make it a more attractive prospect for potential developers
The council’s interim enterprise director, Charles Green, said that the demolition and buying of the hotel – estimated to cost £400,000 – marked the start of council plans to market Wolverhampton in a new and different way, in order to welcome the private sector.
“Part and parcel of that will involve the council making strategic purchases such as the Fox Hotel and other eyesores,” he said. “In the short term it removes an eyesore from a gateway to the city centre.”
The hotel had been subject to transformation plans by the Hampton chain of hotels – the budget arm of the famed Hilton brand. The former Wolverhampton Development Company spent £150,000 reserving the School Street site for Hilton and stopping its owners selling it to anyone else while the firm drew up its plans.
The council was disappointed in January, however, when Hilton announced it was not going to go ahead with the development.
