Doncaster
Doncaster Racecourse is one of the UK's premier racecourses.
Following an extensive £34.5m redevelopment, Doncaster Racecourse was officially reopened by HRH The Princess Royal on 12 September, 2007 for the four day St Leger Festival.
In 2007, a record modern day crowd of over 31,000 attended the St Leger meeting, over 3,300 bottles of champagne were sold over the four day Festival and extensive praise was received from racegoers and racing participants alike. Following an equally successful 2008 St Leger Festival, the new Doncaster can only be described as a roaring success, achieving Arena's aim of returning the Racecourse to its position as one of the UK's pre-eminent racecourses.
The development involved the replacement of the old Yorkshire Stand with the state-of-the-art Urban-i Stand and Lazarus Exhibition Hall, providing quality facilities to racegoers and exhibition and conference attendees. Other improvements include: the refurbishment of the St Leger Stand; the construction of a new stable block and stable lads' hostel adjacent to the Racecourse; the conversion of the old weighing room into the new Champagne and Seafood Restaurant; and a new pre-parade ring and saddling boxes.
Detailed planning permission was received in March 2007 for phase two of the Doncaster Racecourse redevelopment. This will involve the construction of a 120-bedroom, four-star hotel, with associated restaurant and bar areas, and 34 residential apartments, many with racecourse views. The hotel will operate closely with the Racecourse, transforming it into a world-class leisure, business and racing venue.
The gross cost of the hotel and residential development is estimated at approximately £20m, which, after the sale of the residential apartments, is expected to result in a net cost of around £13m.
The preferred operator of the new hotel is Millennium & Copthorne and non-binding heads of terms have been entered into.
Due to the current economic climate and the inflated cost of development debt financing, the timing of the hotel and residential development is currently under review. This exciting project will commence once market conditions improve.
