A new budget hotel will bring more than 100 extra rooms for partygoers and tourists to Newcastle.
Hotel chain Tune are planning a 104-bed facility at historic Proctor House, which sits within the heart of the Quayside’s conservation area.
Work will start next month with £8.3m to be spent on the Edwardian building’s restoration.
Tune Newcastle will be the eighth hotel to be built in the city since 2011 with a further five planned.
Kerry Lowes, of arts collective Amber, which runs the neighbouring Side Gallery, said: “We believe it’s a good thing.
“It’s more affordable accommodation for visitors to the region, and in the heart of Newcastle so there’s easy access to culture. I think it can only help.”
The Tune group runs hotels in Malaysia and Indonesia and has five businesses already in the UK – four in London and one in Edinburgh.
The cheapest rooms have no windows and TV and Wi-fi access and towels cost extra, though all have en-suite bathrooms.
Heritage specialist Fiona Cullen, who works for Newcastle City Council, said: “It’s a very welcome proposal of bringing a currently vacant building back into use, and one that is a significant building on the townscape.
“It’s a listed building and located within the conservation area, which shows it is of national significance.
“It had lots of different uses and an ornate front section, and it was originally owned by the Proctor family for their shop and office.”
Proctor House was built between 1906 and 1909 for business Messers T Proctor and Sons.
Its use is unclear on original planning documents held by the council, but it was extended several times to include a large decorative shop, warehouse and office space. More recently it has been home to the Kublai Kahn Mongolian restaurant, but for the last two years it has been vacant.
In January, Ken Ellington, general manger of the Copthorne Hotel on the Quayside, said there are already too many hotel rooms in the city.
He fears a price war between establishments could drive down costs for people staying in the city and more rooms could ultimately lead to job losses.
A spokesperson from McClure Naismith, the company, which helped business Napier Capital Management secure money for the restoration of Proctor House, said work would begin in June and take 12 months. The building is currently owned by a Manchester businessman under the company name HLD (Tune Limited).
Newcastle City Council granted an extension to a previous planning application to change the building’s use and for changes to a listed building in 2012.