Approval for iconic Restaurant and Apart Hotel plans

Plans to bring an iconic restaurant brand to York alongside a new aparthotel have been given the green light. The development could create more than 100 jobs.

Property development company North Star announced last year (May 2022) that it had secured the rights to bring the Hard Rock Café brand to Yorkshire.

It subsequently submitted full planning and listed building applications to City of York Council in February to redevelop a unit on Coney Street, most recently occupied by TK Maxx.

The plans cover the conversion of the existing unit for the Hard Rock Café and Rock Shop on the ground floor. The upper floors would become a 64-bedroom aparthotel, operated by Room2.

An additional storey is set to be added to the building to provide penthouse suites.

The building's Market Street façade will be replaced with a "vastly improved architectural intervention". Minimal changes would be made to the listed Coney Street façade

It has been estimated that the proposed development could create 110 jobs, with 100 in the Hard Rock Café and ten in the aparthotel. More roles would also be created during peak seasons.

Members of the council's Planning Committee A voted to approve the applications, subject to conditions, at a meeting on 6 July 2023.

The decision was in line with the recommendation of a planning officer's report prepared for the meeting, as previously reported by Insider.

The project team includes nineteen47, Vincent & Brown, Lanpro, OSA, eb7, AMA, Wold Ecology and Dragonfly Consulting.