DEVELOPERS have revealed details of a £25m plan to turn a motorbike showroom and car park in the centre of York into a hotel and flats.

The 146-bed hotel and eight apartments scheme in Piccadilly, which also features a terrace and riverside garden with new public areas creating views across the River Foss to Clifford’s Tower, is set to be submitted to the local council later this month by local development company Northminster Ltd.

The 50,000 sq ft scheme, comprising of 42,000 sq ft for the hotel and about 7,900 sq ft of apartments, is known as Piccadilly Riverside, and has been the subject of two years of pre-planning discussions with the council and Historic England.

The scheme is proposed for the site of a former garage which is now an NCP car park and Infinity Motorcycles accessory shop, which has been owned by key figures at Northminster Ltd since 1978.

The developers believe the proposed scheme could be a catalyst for the long-anticipated regeneration of Piccadilly and the historic castle area.

They plan to build using traditional brick and glass, with construction work starting as soon as possible if planning permission is granted.

The development company, which regenerated, a former 1920s car showroom, also on Piccadilly, into ten luxury apartments in a £5m which won a York Design Award, said Piccadilly Riverside responded to the council’s vision for a new “southern gateway” to the city centre that would increase footfall.