Topping out ceremony at £25m Newcastle Quayside hotel development

A new hotel development on Newcastle’s iconic Quayside reached its highest point this week, with contractor Robertson celebrating the milestone with a topping out ceremony.

Operated by Spanish hotel group Meliá Hotels International, the four-star, seven-storey INNSiDE by Melia Hotel is located next to the Travelodge, replacing the east wing of the former BT building, Bridge Court.

Acting on behalf of developer, Union Property Developments Ltd, the new £25m INNSiDE by Meliá Hotel will provide 161 bedrooms, complete with lounge, bar and restaurant, plus conferencing and meeting room facilities, a fitness lounge and 25 car parking spaces.

Raj Sehgal, Director at Union Property Developments said "It has been a pleasure to work with the Meliá and Robertson teams throughout the various stages of this project, which breathes new life into a substantial vacant building on the historic quayside. We selected a great creative design team and highly capable contractor with a proven track record of delivering major developments across the north of England. Union are focused on delivering best in class developments and we are proud to bring this transformational project to our home city".

Garry Fortune, Cluster General Manager of Meliá Hotels International said "We are pleased to be on programme and on budget for our first development in the exciting and vibrant city of Newcastle. Both Union Property and Meliá Hotels International continue to explore development opportunities in other cities around the UK, to deliver our INNSiDE brand".

Garry Hope, Regional Managing Director of Robertson, said "This is a very complicated site to develop, with a number of complex structures to negotiate, but we have been able to effectively navigate these construction challenges. A large team of workers of 300-400 people have been involved from start to finish to get to this landmark stage. This topping out ceremony is an important milestone for the scheme and for Robertson, with this being our first project to be delivered for Union Property Development Ltd, and we are on track to complete the project on time."

The topping-out ceremony was conducted by Martin Westgate of Robertson, Garry Fortune of Meliá Hotels International, and Raj Sehgal of Union Property Development Ltd. It was attended by the team of agents, contractors and professional partners working on the project.