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NEW hotels could be built at the Ricoh Arena, the Observer can reveal.
The surprise plans are expected to be put back on the table by the city council today (Tuesday).
The move was branded a game-changer by council finance chief Coun Damian Gannon, who is aiming to generate business rates and create jobs in the north of the city.
He told the Observer the first of a series of hotels could be kick-started on Car Park C within 18 months and that flexibility existed in council budgets to make funds available.
The plan makes up part of a wider plan to regenerate the north of the city, with money also being pumped into another long-awaited project at the Ricoh - building a train station.
The stadium has refocused its business on conferences and events since former tenants Coventry City Football Club left last summer. A hotel is already open at the site, the De Vere, but it has limited bedroom numbers.
Coun Gannon told us: "Put another hotel up there - and a series of hotels up there - and the Ricoh can attract bigger and more conferences. It creates jobs, more business rates and grows an area of the city that has, traditionally, been very deprived.
"I'm determined to get it kick-started again because it's an outrage that it's taken so long to get that project finished."
He added the council was still discussing what the best model would be and that it was unclear whether the authority would fund 100 per cent of the project or go into business with a private partner.
It would be highly unlikely the council would run the hotel, with other groups already working at the Ricoh touted as possible firms getting involved.
"There's a number of initial plans that have been mooted so far," Coun Gannon said.
"The case that I've seen - without going into specific figures - is a bit of a no-brainer.
"The demand is there for hotels, there's a shortage of hotel rooms city-wide and it can reinforce and support the business at the Ricoh, which is doing well but just needs a bit more investment so it can continue to expand and make a success of that area."
It comes weeks after leader Ann Lucas said the council needed to move on from the row surrounding the stadium's owners, ACL, and former tenants Coventry City Football Club.
"My frustration is that the whole project up at the Ricoh was never just about the football club," Coun Gannon added.
"It's a regeneration project and the club is, for me, a bit of a sideshow.
"We invested a lot of money originally to get it built up there and now we want to do what we can and push the project and show businesses what a success it can be and give them the confidence to invest up there.
"This is us moving on."
Read more: 'Series of hotels' to be built at Ricoh Arena | Coventry Observer
