Plans for new Colchester Moxy hotel recommended for approval

The proposals to turn the old Post Office site on North Hill into a 75-bed Moxy hotel, owned by the Marriott chain, are to be discussed at a council planning meeting next week.

A planning officer overseeing the application has recommended the plans for approval after they were revised following concerns raised. 

The site is just a five-minute walk from the old and abandoned Odeon site, which already had plans approved to become a 120-bed Moxy hotel earlier this year.

It is currently unknown if Marriot intends to open and run both sites as Moxy hotels.

Closed - the former post office site on North Hill (Image: Google)

Plans for the Moxy Hotel on North Hill were first submitted at the beginning of 2023.

The original proposals outlined a 73-room hotel over three floors, which were revised at the end of last year following feedback to create a fourth floor and 72 rooms.

Plans were then revised again last month, which removed the fourth floor and added rooms in the basement.

The latest proposals now look set to be given the go-ahead.

Plans - the Moxy Hotel would be within a walking distance of the Jumbo Water Tower (Image: Newsquest)

They outline a 75-bedroom hotel spread across three floors and the basement, as well as a ground-floor restaurant.

The existing basement would be retained for storage and also include seven of the rooms.

A new pedestrian walkway linking Head Street and the High Street to Balkerne Gardens would also be created.

The mock-Tudor frontage of the building facing onto the High Street is set to be retained with the red brick buildings to the rear being demolished.

Luxury - a mock up image of the first plans for the Moxy Hotel, before revision, from the rear of the building (Image: Newsquest)

The report supporting the approval says the site lies within a "highly sustainable" location and the proposal is "significantly economically beneficial".

The Colchester Business Improvement District also supported the project, saying: “Our Colchester BID fully supports this planning application, as presented, and urges Colchester to get behind this for the betterment of the city centre.” 

Representatives of the North Essex Heritage Trust deemed the proposals a "very important development investment for the city centre".

"It not only deals with a vacant building that overlooks the High Street but removes some very unattractive rear extensions that have a negative impact upon the local area and the setting of Jumbo," the trust said.