The Grand Hotel in Birmingham city centre is finally set to be restored to its former glory after a £6 million funding boost was secured.
The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) and Birmingham City Council have agreed to provide a grant for the renovation project in
It means a 16-year wait to return one of the city's most treasured buildings will end in 2018 when it finally opens as a hotel.
READ MORE: {}
The Post understands talks are taking place with two hotel operators for the Grade II*-listed block which will create 200 jobs.
Tony Green, chief executive of owner Hortons' Estate, said the grant meant the scheme was at long last financially viable.
He told the Post: "This does mean the Grand is coming back as a hotel - and without this funding it would not have been - but that does not mean there aren't any more challenges.
"We have always said from the start we were determined to bring it back as a hotel and always said it would be best as an upmarket hotel. I can't imagine it would reopen as anything other than an upmarket hotel.
"It can only be a success if the bedrooms work well and the Grosvenor Room comes back as a place for meetings, balls, conferencing and banqueting."
Most Read
The Grand has a rich history and even hosted American black rights activist Malcolm X when he gave a speech there in the 1960s.
Hortons' has already which dates back to 1879, including restoring its façades and putting on a new roof.
The first phase of the internal works will start immediately, creating nine of the 170 new bedrooms, lift shafts, plant rooms and adding a new external terrace and kitchen.
The project will take a year to complete.
This will be followed by the fit-out of the hotel, including the restoration of the ornate Grosvenor Room and the grand staircase.
Hortons' estimates the work will cost in excess of £25 million and says it will be completed for the hotel to opening in 2018.
A total of £4 million of the grant funding is repayable, subject to the commercial success of the hotel.