Oxford City Council approves £37m project to transform cinema into aparthotel

Oxford City Council Cabinet has approved plans for the council to invest £37m to transform a city centre cinema into a 145-room aparthotel and community hub.

It comes after the council's City Centre Action Plan revealed in June 2022 that thelocal authority is aiming to open more hotels to “boost the city centre’s economy”.

Since September 2022, the council has sought to find the best use of 38-40 George Street, which currently operates as an Odeon cinema.

The lease for the site as it stands will run out in September 2024.

The new development will feature a community space on the ground floor, which will likely include a café, and an aparthotel on the upper five floors.

It will also offer apprenticeships for young people in Oxford and commit to paying all staff at the aparthotel at least the Oxford Living Wage, which increased to £11.35 per hour in April.

The construction will meet “modern building standards” in a bid to reduce its environmental impact.

Oxford City Council said it will seek planning permission for the redevelopment of the building by summer 2024 and announce the operator of the project later this summer.

“The new contract and lease could be signed in August or September,” it announced.

It added that aparthotels “offer visitors more rooms than typical hotels” and are used by a “wide range of visitors and tourists, alongside workers employed on short-term projects or shows in a city”.

The current timeline suggested the aparthotel and community hub could be opening in 2027 with a 40-year lease on the building.

Councillor Ed Turner, deputy leader of Oxford City Council, said: “This is a once-in-a-generation redevelopment of one of Oxford city centre’s iconic buildings.

“The aparthotel will also encourage more overnight stays in Oxford city centre, providing a significant boost to hospitality businesses, particularly George Street’s theatres, restaurants and bars, and it will provide valuable income to support frontline services such as youth workers and grants to voluntary sector organisations.”

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