PLANS are being made to turn a prime building in a Northumberland town into a high-grade hotel.
The Old Grammar School in Hexham – one of four ‘crown jewel’ county council-owned buildings in the town put up for sale two-and-a-half years ago – could become a hotel within the next year if the plans go through smoothly.
Corbridge property dealer Ray Winfield, who paid £430,000 for the historic white-fronted former school at auction last summer, has put it on the market again at a “break-even” £485,000.
And leading the queue of interested parties is a North-East-based property developer with “strong” links to a hotel group.
An initial pre-planning submission is being revised due to archaeological considerations, but substantial preparatory work has already been carried out.
The eventual scenario could be a 100-room, £8m hotel employing around 140 staff in the heart of Hexham’s conservation area at Hallgate.
The Grade Two-listed, 16th-Century building was one of four in Hexham put up for sale for a combined £4m in autumn 2010.
Hexham House and Prospect House are now being retained by Northumberland County Council, while the Old Swimming Pool on Gilesgate is the subject of a planning application by prospective developers.
But the Old Grammar School, which was used by the county as a planning office, was sold to Mr Winfield for a knockdown £430,000 ten months ago.
He said: “I understood it would fetch around £600,000, but I made my bid by telephone to the London auction house and got it for £430,000.
“I bought it on a whim, really. The money was available, the price was okay, and the site has great potential.
“I am not making any extra from the re-sale, as I have spent that extra £55,000 on estate agents, listed building architects, stamp duty and so on, so £485,000 is a break-even figure and anything above that is a bonus.
“We own the freehold of the road as well as the building, and we don’t want to spoilt that land for the community – we would look to develop it very, very sympathetically. We want to develop it as an enhancement to the town without making it too modernistic.
He added: “We are at a very early stage, and the next step is to revise the initial plans.
“But we envisage an extra 35-space underground car park to add to the existing 15 spaces above ground.
“There are currently 17 office rooms, but if we are allowed to, we will delicately expand to 100 rooms. It would be an important addition to Hexham, a boost to the town – but I emphasise that we are only at a very early stage.
“We are still open to all offers for the building, but I have always wanted to see a new hotel in Hexham – 20 years ago I had plans which came to nothing – and if everything goes to plan it could be up and ready within a year.”
The Old Grammar School is being marketed through North East Commercial, who report strong early interest in the property.
It is described as “an exciting and rare opportunity with undoubted scope for a range of commercial uses”.
