Wasps are getting ready to submit plans to build a new hotel outside the Ricoh Arena.
A new hotel has long been mooted but took a step forward in July 2018 after Coventry City Council’s cabinet granted Wasps Holdings Limited (WHL) a new long lease over Car Park C in order to facilitate a 150-bed hotel.
The rugby club had been given a deadline of November this year to submit a planning application.
But this has now been extended until the end of February 2020.
While not revealing the exact deadline, a spokesman for Wasps confirmed they are planning to submit a planning application in the new year.
They added that they do not wish to comment further on the plans at this stage.
It was originally hoped the hotel would be completed in time for Coventry’s year as the UK City of Culture in 2021, but this is now highly unlikely.
Ricoh Arena from above (Image: Google Earth)
The new hotel is hoped to help support events and conferencing at the Ricoh, such as the huge gigs it has hosted recently including the Spice Girls and The Rolling Stones.
Wasps will only be able to enter into the new lease once planning consent has been granted, but the council can surrender back the lease if development does not commence within two years.
The Ricoh already contains the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel with around 120 bedrooms.
Other schemes for hotels have previously come forward and failed.