Tourism and conferencing in the North East received a boost today after plans for a 155-room hotel were unveiled.

A new Holiday Inn is planned for the entrance to the Newburn Riverside business park, on the outskirts of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The proposed six-storey full service hotel will boast meeting/conference rooms, a state of the art gymnasium, and extensive landscaping to surrounding land.

The £15m project is expected to take around a year to complete, opening in early 2010, dependent on planning approval from Newcastle City Council.

The site, on Kingfisher Boulevard, is currently owned by regional development agency, One NorthEast.

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To ensure the highest standard of design and secure a developer capable of delivery, a two-stage design competition to select a preferred developer was held.

Bropar, in conjunction with its equity partner Bridges Ventures, was selected to deliver the project after impressing with their commitment to the highest quality of design for the four-star hotel and contributing £250,000 towards renewable energy and best practice.

One NorthEast Acting Head of Regeneration (North), Neil Graham, said: "Bropar brought forward a high quality scheme that will contribute significantly to the future development of Newburn Riverside.

"The development will aspire to the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) excellent standard – the construction and property sectors' accepted standard for environmental design and management best practice."

This covers areas such as energy usage, pollution, transport, land use, building materials and water consumption. Bropar has also committed £80,000 in funding for public art on the site.

Bropar Limited is a UK hotel development and management company with expertise in site acquisition, construction and opening and running hotels.

(JM)