Plans to transform former hotel into 122-bed HMO

A planning application for a 122-bed house of multiple occupation (HMO) at the site of a former city centre hotel has been submitted to Hull City Council.

Portland Hotel, which closed in 2012, was once Hull's first AA four-star hotel but it emerged the building had later been used as a cannabis factory, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Owners Knight Wood Portfolio Limited have submitted an application for "well-designed and comfortable HMO rooms" between the first and sixth floors of the building on Paragon Street.

Under the plans, there would be multiple "generous kitchen facilities" on each floor, communal areas for tenants, a gym and a cinema room.

Four floors will accommodate 20 rooms while the first floor will contain 13 and 29 on the second.

There will also be laundry facilities with an approximate 1:5 ratio of occupants to machines planned for every floor.

Each bedroom will also be fitted with a kitchenette for tenants who "happen to be more private by nature", the document stated.

The application also included a refresh for the building's tired-looking exterior. The visual improvements would include a refurbished mosaic tiling facade at the lower levels and new glazing to the upper levels.

The LDRS reported the building has had "a peculiar life" with a seemingly unfruitful attempt to turn the site into student accommodation.

In planning documents, owners stressed they were not associated with any of the previous issues the building had faced and wanted to provide the building with a new lease of life.

Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.