Operator sought for new Dorchester hotel development

Expressions of interest are invited for a new hotel, with spa and event facilities, in the Brewery Square development in Dorchester.

Resolution Property and Waterhouse, the regeneration partners behind the £100m mixed-use leisure, retail and residential scheme, has instructed leisure property firm Fleurets to market the opportunity on a freehold or leasehold basis.

Brewery Square is being developed on the site of the former Eldridge Pope Brewery, in Dorchester's town centre.

Designed in 1880 by architect Crickmay and Sons, where Thomas Hardy worked before his career as a writer, the Grade II listed Victorian Brewhouse has planning consent to create a 48 to 84 bedroom hotel overlooking Brewery Square, Dorchester's new fountain square. The scheme includes an 11,000 sq ft spa and swimming pool and two function rooms.

Current hospitality occupiers of the development include Cote Brasserie, Carluccio's, Wagamama, Zizzi, Pizza Express, Vivo Lounge, Nandos, Brewhouse & Kitchen, Costa, Premier Inn and a new Odeon Cinema. A mix of retail and residential space also feature.

Kevin Conibear, Fleurets associate, said: "This is an iconic building steeped in history in the centre of a hugely successful development.

The overall Brewery Square scheme has been sympathetically developed to create a vibrant new quarter, accommodating a host of national retail and leisure operators. The scheme presents a unique opportunity for a hotel operator to secure a flagship, trophy building in a prime position, within the very heart of the county town and to thrive on the development's success."