Go-ahead for ‘unusual’ hotel in former sports store

A former Sports Direct in Wolverhampton will become a 52-bedroom hotel and gym, after planners decided the scheme would provide a welcome boost to city-centre trade.

Plans to convert the vacant 35,000 sq ft building to short-stay accommodation in Queen Street were lodged in November, along with a scheme to split the lower floor of the building into five separate retail units.

The ground floor of the building ceased trading as a sports clothing store in 2023 and has sat empty ever since – but applicant Opinder Singh Gulati said the proposal would bring a “central, under-utilised building” back into use, boosting the city’s footfall and evening economy.

And while Wolverhampton city council’s planning officers agreed the scheme was “unusual”, they ruled the opportunity to bring the prominent and run-down former store back into was too good to turn down.

“This is an unusual use/location, however, notwithstanding this, it is not inappropriate and would utilise a large space, creating jobs and investment,” said the officer’s report.

“The proposals would be a significant investment in this part of the city centre and would improve vitality and viability of the centre if implemented.”

The scheme included no off-street parking for guests, but the planning department ruled that the building’s highly sustainable city centre location meant that the proposals complied with policy.

The plans will see 22 bedrooms created on the first floor of the building, 16 on the second floor and 14 on the third. No rooms are proposed for the building’s fourth floor, which contains a plant room.

The application and plans relating to the scheme can be viewed on City of Wolverhampton Council’s planning portal, using reference: 25/01235/FUL