Drake's Island sold with new owner hoping to expand hotel plans
Drake's Island in Plymouth Sound has been sold to local businessman Morgan Phillips, who hopes to expand hotel plans for the site.
Phillips' development company Guardian Industrial UK has bought the island for an undisclosed fee off a guide price of £6m from businessman Dan McCauley, founder of Rotolok who acquired the island for £384,000 in 1995.
Plans to build a 25-bedroom hotel with a 120-cover fine dining restaurant, bar, conference facilities, spa and gym were given the green light by Plymouth City Council two years ago.
Phillips intends to expand on these plans by increasing the hotel capacity to 43 bedrooms, along with the development of a heritage centre, with £17-22m set to be invested into the project.
Although planning permission is in place, a timescale for the project has not be confirmed as further environmental studies need to take place first.
The island was named after explorer Sir Francis Drake, who used Plymouth as his home port. It came under the administration of the war office until 1963.
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