First phase of major project reaches key milestone and building is now close to being at full height

Plymouth’s £9m Moxy Hotel is on course to be completed in early 2023 with the building already close to being at its full height. The lift shaft and main stairwell are now built and all six floors of factory-made rooms will be in place within weeks.

The building, on the former car park at the Plymouth Pavilions, is already towering over Millbay and can be seen from some distance. The first phase of work, which includes two concrete cores, for the lift shaft and stairwell, has had its topping out ceremony, which means it has reached its highest part.

The second phase of the development, which includes the modular timber bedrooms which are made off-site and craned into place, is also on track. All six floors of rooms will be in place soon and they will then be enclosed. There will eventually be 200 of these “timber box” hotel rooms.

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Dutch company Vastint Hospitality is developing the building, which will front onto the newly created Millbay Boulevard, and will be run under Marriott Bonvoy’s Moxy brand.

A project manager for Moxy Plymouth said: “As we are building the hotel in two phases the topping out ceremony has been reached for the first phase a few weeks ago. For phase two this will be reached within a few weeks.

“This will also mark the finalising of the PBE (prefabricated building elements) assembly and the bedrooms to be wind and watertight. In general, the construction is looking to be in a good pace.”

The hotel was originally due for competition in 2022 but it was delayed when remnants of a Victorian sewer system, old railway sidings and a huge concrete block were found underground and had to be removed. This required redesign of the pile locations to include extra piles, and ground beams. The Covid-19 pandemic caused further delays.

But the work is back in full swing now. Vastint, which has brought in Lithuania-headquartered main contractor Mitnija to oversee construction, has said it expects the hotel to be finished in early 2023.

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When it is completed the Moxy will feature a 200-bedroom hotel with landscaping, car parking, restaurant, bar and leisure facilities. This is the second Moxy Hotel in the UK to be built by Mitnija for international real estate developer Vastint Hospitality. The first was recently completed in Milton Keynes.

The 5,700sq m Moxy Hotel Plymouth, designed by Keppie Design, will form part of the city council’s ambitious £6.2m Millbay Boulevard scheme to create a link between the city centre and the waterfront. Vastint acquired the car park land from ex-Plymouth Argyle chairman James Brent’s Natatomisam company in early 2018.

The new Moxy Hotel Plymouth will be the city’s third new hotel since 2020, with Oyo and Premier branded buildings now completed in the city centre. Meanwhile, a 150-room Hilton Garden Inn hotel and three blocks of flats are to be built on Plymouth Hoe on the spot where a previous hotel was demolished. Plymouth City Council has selected Propiteer Hotels Ltd as the preferred developer for the former Quality Hotel site.

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