THE OWNER of Keighley’s historic Victoria Hotel is poised to unveil blueprints for its transformation into apartments and shops.

Harendra Patel this week revealed his architects were completing drawings in readiness for submitting a planning application to Bradford Council.

If the application goes through without a hitch then Mr Patel hopes to begin construction work almost immediately, with a projected timescale of 12 to 18 months.

His company, Cavendish Keighley Properties Ltd, also have to successfully gain a commercial loan to pay for the work.

The news comes after Mr Patel’s recent completion of essential improvements to the roof to protect the Cavendish Street building from the elements.

The Victoria Hotel has been derelict since closing as a pub, hotel and nightspot in 2012.

Cavendish Keighley Properties bought the property in 2013, and the following year gained planning permission to transform it into four ground-floor shop units with nine self-contained apartments above, subject to conditions to ensure the distinctive Victorian frontage still remained.

Company spokesman Mr Patel revealed in September that his team were revising their plans to create three shop units instead of four. These will front onto Cavendish Street.

Mr Patel this week said: “I think we’re looking at a year to 18 months, depending on how long the work takes. We’re going to start straight away if we get planning permission. We’ll do everything in one go.”

The Victoria Hotel was built in 1900 on the site of an earlier hostelry, and underwent numerous improvements over the decades until a total refurbishment in the mid-1980s.

The then owner Nick Walker transformed part of the ground floor into Vicki’s Bar, which became a popular Keighley nightspot, and the upstairs function room was regularly used throughout the 1980s by local bands.

When plans to create flats and shops were first unveiled in 2014, Mr Patel warned that the building could be demolished if Bradford Council did not help fund the refurbishments.

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