£70m Football Scheme and 150 Room Hotel Planned for Cheshire
Date: May 2018
Location: Northwich, Cheshire, UK
Name: TBA
No. of Keys: 150
Seller:
Buyer: Multi-million pound plans to develop a world class centre for women and girls’ football complete with luxury hotel and spa have been revealed.
Cheshire County FA is joining forces with Cheshire West and Chester Council and ION Developments to work on the £70m scheme.
The world-class football facility will be built on a 60-acre site in Northwich in the heart of Cheshire.
The new site will become a leading centre for women and girls football with a WSL 1 club in talks to become a partner on what will become a “best in class” football environment.
The ambitious plans include a 150-key luxury hotel with luxury spa and conference and events facilities.
Two FIFA quality Grassmaster Hybrid pitches will be built along with a 1000-seat stadium.
One of the pitches will be used for private training for visiting national teams or international teams using the site in preparation for domestic or European competition.
The development will also include two 3G football pitches and six high quality grass football pitches.
The hotel will have 150 bedrooms, a selection of private pavilions, a spa with swimming pool and state-of-the-art gym, conference and banqueting facilities for 400, meeting rooms, fine-dining restaurant and bar and lounge.
Cheshire FA plan to have four high quality and innovative education spaces designed to create and develop the coaches and referees of the future.
By using the latest technology for player and game analysis, the centre will be well-placed to be a leading institution for football education.
Cheshire FA business and operations manager Stuart Manifould said: “This site will become a world-renowned facility for the development of women’s football and will significantly improve the life chances and opportunities of all those involved in the game at every level.”
Steve Parry, managing director of Ion Development, said: “We are greatly looking forward to bringing what will become a world-class football centre with luxury hotel to Cheshire.
“The finished development will not only enhance Cheshire’s brilliant reputation as a footballing destination and bring hotel rooms to a thriving region, but will also give women and girls’ football the much needed state-of-the-art facilities to help reach its full potential.”
Keith Ashton, chief executive of Architects Space & Place, said: “We’ve been designing sports facilities for 40 years, from Olympic Games venues to community clubhouses and rarely does a project such as this excite us so much.
“This is an opportunity to design a facility that truly makes a difference from grassroots participants to elite level athletes in one place.”
THPT Comment: Ion appear to have much experience in working with local town and city authorities on projects covering retail, leisure, transport, education, arts and hospitality (Crowne Plaza Liverpool Airport and Travelodge Rhyl) …so a good track record and combining a world-class sporting/football facility with a hotel makes sense.
First Seen: The Business Desk