A new 100-room hotel, bowling alley, indoor play area and conference and banqueting suite is being planned for Leicester.
Developers want to redevelop the Kapital Buildings close to the Burleys Way flyover, on the northern edge of the city centre, under £16 million regeneration plans.
SB Management Ltd have lodged plans for the scheme with Leicester City Council which also includes nine rooftop flats.
The distinctive building, that dates back to the late 1950s, is currently home to a textile factory with 87 staff, which would be relocated to more modern premises in the city.
There is also a function suite.
The developer hopes to remodel the interior of the northern section of the building turning it from office and workshop space to a mixed leisure complex with parking on the ground floor.
They also want to knock down the southern part of the building – now used as storage space – to make way for the six-storey hotel which would employ more than 30 staff.
There would be a new multi-storey link between the two buildings.
Documents submitted to the council say the indoor children’s play area and bowling alley would create some 36 jobs with a further 15 jobs in the new conference and banqueting centre.
A separate lower-cost budget 40 room hotel is also planned within the complex creating some 25 jobs where guests would pay for cut price accommodation with shared facilities.
The form said: “This type of hostel typically attracts a younger guest, either travelling with a group or alone, and a guest that is not reliant on private transport.
“The hostel facilities are basic but clean and modern. More common in cities such as Liverpool and Manchester, this type of accommodation, and the business model behind it, is new and rapidly evolving (an example of such a use is Eat Sleep Love in Liverpool).
An SB Management spokesman said: “It is concluded that the proposed scheme is appropriate and sustainable and one which introduces a high-quality mixed-use development into the city centre.
“The proposed development would breathe new life into an important site within the local area and one which complements and contributes to the regeneration of the city centre.”
City council planning officers are considering the proposals.
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said he had not viewed the specific plans and that he did not know what conclusions officers would draw about them but he said: “That part of the city has enormous potential for regeneration with the Corah site nearby.
“Over the last five years we have seen the area half a mile up the road near the Highcross transformed and it maybe this will be the focus for regeneration in the next five years.”
