Hotel will feature in £70m plans for centre

A new hotel will feature as part of £70million plans to transform West Bromwich's Queen's Square shopping centre, it was revealed today.

It will be at the heart of redevelopment plans, also set to include a new shopping mall, cafe and restaurant. Sandwell Council bosses believe it will give the centre a more "European" feel.

Councillor Bob Badham, Sandwell's regeneration chief, said: "The hotel will look onto the new Public Square we are set to create alongside The Public and we feel this will give the whole development a more European feel.

"Sadly in recent years the centre has continued to decline and so we are working closely with Tyburn Stockland to come up with a viable proposal which will attract more big High Street names to the town. This is another big piece in the multi-million pound development of the town centre."

In total 23 new stores and a European-style outdoor shopping area will be developed, with 24 apartments and an 850-space multi-storey car park. The council, which is putting £3m into the scheme over two years, wants to attract high street names to boost appeal to shoppers. Its cabinet approved financial plans at a private meeting last night.