Tesco in Kingsland High Street could be demolished and replaced with a six-storey high-end boutique hotel.
A planning application has been lodged by Movesell Ltd to turn the single-storey Dalston supermarket and its forecourt parking into 122 serviced apartments.
There would also be a café and gym on the site which would be run by Locke, the chain behind Leman Locke in Whitechapel and Eden Locke in Edinburgh. It is not known what would happen to the ATM. A number of the bars and restaurants opposite the supermarket only take cash on the door while some of the independent shops nearby will not accept cards for small payments.
The site is diagonally opposite the Grade II-listed Rio Cinema, but the applicant’s agent Barton Willmore insists the development would enhance the Dalston Conservation Area.
In a design and access statement the agent says: “It is accepted by all parties that the site in its existing use and appearance is unattractive and detrimental to the setting of the Rio Cinema, the immediate built environment and the recently adopted conservation area. The council recognised this when granting planning permission in 2015.”
A four- and five-storey office space was given the green light two years ago.
But one resident, Chris Wood, contacted the Gazette to complain that he only realised a hotel might be built on his doorstep when he saw a notice on a lamppost by chance.
Knocking on neighbours’ doors, he realised none of them had been sent letters about the development either by council planners – who blamed a “glitch”.
“It’s a block of bricks with no sensitivity to the conservation area, and no consideration for the historical aspect,” said Chris.
“They say they are improving the area but we say it makes it worse. It takes light and views and a communal hotspot which is a useful hotspot.
“It’s right in the heartland of Dalston, and the parents at school are getting irritated there’s been no communication.”
He added: “The hotel has no parking facilities, and Sandringham Road – where they plan to locate a service entry – is already bad enough with congestion.
“Residents are gathering support. It could turn into a big protest in the end.”
A spokesman for Movesell Ltd said the hotel would create up to 41 jobs. He said: “This hotel investment will give the confidence to other local business owners to invest more in the northern end of the High Street - an area which has been very much left behind by the substantial investment which has taken place in the southern half.
“It will provide a substantial boost to the local restaurants and shops as a result of the visitors to the hotel spending money in the local economy.”
A consultation on the project runs until December 7. Have your say here.
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