City Square Centre in Lincoln could be demolished to make way for hotel

City Square Centre in Lincoln, a former shopping centre by the Cornhill Quarter

Plans have been submitted to demolish a city centre building to make way for a new hotel. The proposals, submitted by Lincolnshire Co-op, would see the City Square Centre in Lincoln turned into a hotel to “compliment” the retail and leisure offering in the Cornhill Quarter.

Located across the river from Waterside Shopping Centre, the building has stood vacant since 2019. Outline planning permission for a hotel on the site has already been achieved and there are now talks with a potential operator to bring a more detailed scheme forward.

If the planning application for the demolition of the centre is approved, it is hoped that work could be complete by autumn 2024. Developer McCarthy Stone had previously submitted an outline planning application for a retirement living scheme on the site, but it was withdrawn in May 2023.

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Lincolnshire Co-op’s head of property, Kevin Kendall, said: “A hotel will provide another valued service in the Cornhill Quarter area of Lincoln, complementing the retail and leisure offering we already have. We are in positive discussions with a hotel operator and hope we will be able to develop a more detailed scheme and submit a further application for planning permission in 2025.”

Mr Kendall said as well as a hotel, Lincolnshire Co-op will be exploring uses for the rest of the site with development partners. He added: “We anticipate that the rest of the site will likely be redeveloped with residential accommodation.

“We are in the early stages of gauging interest with potential partners and are open to range of uses which will help bring that site back into use. The site could be used for a variety of housing for different needs – accommodation for sale, rental accommodation, student accommodation – there are lots of options.”