Reuben brothers to transform former Newcastle fire station into luxury hotel

Plans to transform a disused fire station in Newcastle into a luxury hotel have been given the green light by councillors.

Taras Properties, the development vehicle of the billionaire Reuben Brothers, is to convert the Grade II-listed building to include 60 bedrooms and nearly 4,000 sq ft of restaurant and bar space.

The Pilgrim Street site opened in 1933 and was the main fire station for Newcastle until its closure in 2005.

The proposals were backed by Newcastle City Council’s planning committee on 4 June and The Chronicle reported the plans are expected to take 18 months to complete.

“This is an exciting project to bring forward a high-quality hotel and dining offer which isn’t currently provided within Newcastle city centre,” said Matt Verlander, planning and development director at Avison Young, which is advising on the plans.

The hotel scheme, reportedly set to cost £11.5m, forms part of a wider development of the area, which will see the former fire engine bays used to create pavement café areas. An internal courtyard space will be landscaped and open to the public, with the old hose tower acting as an arrival point for hotel guests.

The Reuben Brothers were ranked second in The Sunday Times’ 2021 Rich List with an estimated fortune of more than £21b. Their hospitality portfolio includes the Lingfield Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club and the former Curtain hotel in London’s Shoreditch, which will reopen as the Mondrian Shoreditch this summer.

Image: Avison Young