A prominent grot spot could finally get a new lease of life after being bought by a well-known developer with a track record of turning around some of the area’s eyesores.
The Bridge Hotel in Sutton Bridge has been an ugly blight on the gateway to the district and whole county after being allowed to stand and rot by its many previous owners. That could now be set to change after it has been purchased by Jamie Sandford and Rob Bridgewater, of API Investments.
For years, calls have been made by residents and traders in the village for something to happen with The Bridge Hotel site which no longer has a roof and suffered internal damage due to the fires.
Now the developer behind the transformation of pubs in Donington and Holbeach in LIncowill be submitting plans to convert the hotel into 15 flats in a £1 million redevelopment project.
Mr Sandford, who also transformed The Bell in Holbeach, said: “We believe our visions are aligned with wanting the eyesore that has sat for years decaying turning into a building Sutton Bridge can be proud of!
“We anticipate the project to be around 12 months once we are given the green light from the local authority but local residents will start to see an improvement in the coming days as we start to clear up externally and make safe the site.”
The Bridge Hotel has had a chequered history. After going through the probate process following the death of a previous owner who lived in Thailand, it sold for a surprising £181,000 at an auction in 2022.
But it was listed for auction again earlier this year but failed to attract a buyer and the previous owner had failed to register with the Land Registry.
API Investments has had its sights set on the 21-bedroom hotel for sometime and decided to make an offer shortly after the last auction.
Mr Sandford said: “The Bridge Hotel has been on our radar for a number of years. In that time we had registered for many of the auctions it was entered into but it always seemed to sell for more than we were willing to pay for it given the extensive works required.
“We followed the most recent action in March closely and offered on the property shortly after it did not sell at the auction.
“Since acquiring the property it has been full steam ahead we have been working closely with out architect who has worked with us on all our other larger previous projects and we are now at a position where we will be submitting plans to the planners.”
They are looking to create one and two bedroom flats over the hotel’s three floors – but it is expected to be a big project due to the state of the building.
Mr Sandford said: “We have worked hard to try to retain as much of the existing building as possible which means visually from the road side the building will keep almost all of its character and charm whilst inside there will be a complete reconfiguration to create 15 flats.
“Working within the confinements of an existing building isn’t easy but when we get to the finished product it always feels worth it.
“This project is smaller than the Red Cow in Donington where we created 14 houses and 4 flats, although The Bridge Hotel is in a much worse condition with previous fires destroying most of the wood work inside the main building we certainly have our work cut out.
“I find the most exciting thing with projects like this is seeing the local reaction from comments and posts on line to local residents stopping and talking to us as a project begins to take shape.”
