Tottenham Hotspur stadium plan drops hotel for college and more flats

Plans for a 150-bed hotel and “sky bar” have been removed from the Tottenham Hotspur redevelopment plans in favour of a college and nearly 100 more flats.

The changes were discussed at a public meeting last Wednesday after being submitted to Haringey Council the day before Christmas Eve.

But they were not enough to dampen enthusiasm from residents and traders to get the project underway as soon as possible.

The original plans for the Northumberland Development Project, including a cutting-edge 56,000-seater stadium, were unanimously approved by Haringey Council’s planners in September 2010.

But changes have had to be made to make sure the project is financially viable in the economic downturn.

Derek Lewis, owner of Glickman’s hardware store close to the site in High Road, insisted Tottenham’s traders were still in favour of the redevelopment, telling the Journal: “The Northumberland Development Project needs to happen just to make sure this part of Tottenham doesn’t sink.”

Under the revised plans, set to go before the council’s planning committee on February 13, changes will be made to the proposed developments at either end of the new stadium.

The stadium plan itself remains unchanged.

At a development management forum held at Northumberland Park Community School last Wednesday, Spurs’ project director Paul Phillips said they would create a “365-days-a-year stadium rather than 30-days-a-year,” increasing the number of visitors by half a million per year.

At the north end of the site by Northumberland Park, the 24-hour supermarket would remain at ground level but club offices and a space for educational use would sit above it, instead of the original plans for a “sky bar”.

Hopes for a four-star, 150-bed hotel to the south of the stadium near Park Lane were scotched as the club could only attract two-star hotel operators.

The single, sweeping residential block also planned for the south end will now be divided into four “finger blocks” comprising 285 flats, up from the original 200, which will share communal space.

There will also be three storeys of commercial space created underneath the blocks.

If it gets approval, Spurs hope to begin work on the northern development by the end of the year, with the southern development unable to be started before the new stadium is built in around three years’ time.