Developer hopes to start work on £100m casino site next year

DEVELOPERS behind plans to build a landmark 100m casino and leisure development on the River Hull are hoping to start work next year.

A 23-storey skyscraper, the city’s tallest building ever, is destined to be part of the development on the former Rank Hovis Clarence Mills site, next to Drypool Bridge.

The plans also feature accommodation for 590 students and a 53,000 sq ft casino, underneath a plaza fronted by four restaurants, as well as a 185-bed Courtyard hotel by Marriott.

Developers claim it could employ 1,000 people and attract oversea visitors. Just eight cities in the UK being allowed to develop larger casino complexes.

Hull Council’s planning committee voted this week to allow a three-year extension to the developers’ planning permission.

Philip Ackrill, of Manor Mills Developments, said three years was “plenty” – and said they should be on site next year if Apollo Resorts’ application for a “large casino” licence is approved by Hull Council.

Mr Ackrill said he didn’t know of any other applicants, adding: “As long as we win it we will deliver it. All the parties I know of have approached us – and one quote given by a major, major operator was that ours was the “slam dunk” site.”

Mr Ackrill said he believed they had “ticked all the boxes” required by the council and the development would put Hull in the “premier league of casinos”.

He said the site leant itself to having its own identity and would offer “slightly more sedate” entertainment than elsewhere in the city, adding: “It’ll bring a higher profile because there are only eight of these larger casinos to be built in the UK. It’ll promote tourism from Europe as it will be an activity for people to come over on the ferry, maybe for the weekend. There are tonnes of positives.”

Apollo is expected to submit its application at the end of next month. If there are no other applicants, a decision will be made by the end of January. If there is competition, a decision will have to wait until July.

Malcolm Scott, senior partner of Hull-based Scotts Property LLP, which is acting as the agent, said he’d talked to tourism officials, as well as the police and the Bishop of Hull, who had raised concerns. He said: “I hope this dialogue will be continuing so we are genuinely taking into account concerns he and others may have.”

The London borough of Newham is among the eight areas given permission for a large casino, each about three times the size of the current UK norm. It has had interest from several operators and expects to be in a position to announce the final decision in late February or early March.

The Hull site was operated by Rank Hovis until 2005. Second World War bombing virtually destroyed the building, which dates back to 1890, and only part of the mill’s original Victorian facade survives.

Other city regeneration schemes have fallen victim to the recession. The 100m “Boom” scheme featuring flats, offices, retail facilities and restaurants was sunk by the credit crunch last year.

Construction is at an advanced stage, however, on a 7.5m footbridge across the river based on a concept by architects McDowell and Benedetti.

The structure will offer pedestrians the chance to “ride” on the bridge as it swings open to allow boats through.