Part of a Victorian warehouse in Manchester city centre which was most recently used as a cannabis factory could be transformed into a boutique hotel.
KRO Hospitality has proposed a luxury 32-room hotel in the vacant office space above the renowned Indian restaurant Asha’s on Peter Street.
The firm described their plan as ‘an exciting and unique piece of urban regeneration’ that would bring a ‘vacant and dilapidated interior’ back to life.
The upper floors of the Grade II-listed Lancashire House have fallen prey to water damage and pigeon infestation since a fire ripped through the building in January 2012.
But the blaze helped uncover more than 300 cannabis plants, valued at up to £100,000, grown just a few yards from the former police station on Bootle Street .
Under plans submitted to Manchester council, the building’s roof would have to be removed and certain staircases demolished to allow for a mezzanine floor to be built.
This would allow for seven split-level duplex suites to be provided alongside six studios and 19 double rooms.
Around 40 jobs would be created by the new venture, according to documents submitted on behalf of KRO.
A statement says: “The proposed development represents an opportunity for an exciting and unique piece of urban regeneration within the context of distinctive architecture.
“The scheme benefits from the inclusion of the existing restaurant at ground and lower ground floors which will be fully integrated within the hotel
“Through delivering a sensitive architectural response, the project will reinstate a currently vacant and dilapidated interior.
“It is the aspiration of our client and their team that the development, when complete, will become an enhanced architectural asset to Peter Street, promoting high quality accommodation that benefits from its immediate historical context.”
Lancashire House was designed by the eminent Manchester architectural practice Walters, Barker & Ellis and built in 1868.
With the city growing its reputation as ‘Cottonopolis’, it would have been one of countless warehouses used to store cotton as the industry boomed.
Since then a building society, betting offices and now Asha’s have occupied the building, which was first listed in 1974.
