Latest on big plans for Blackpool’s former Abingdon Street Post Office

Blackpool’s former Abingdon Street Post Office is on the brink of a multi-million pound transformation into a top-name hotel.

The £26m proposals to turn this landmark building into an Indigo-branded hotel and restaurant have been welcomed in the town.

But although sold signs went up outside the town centre building back in March and contracts were exchanged, Blackpool Council said this week that the plans were still being evaluated.

The Grade II listed building has been owned by Fylde-based businessman Joe Thompson since 2015.

The site, which also includes the former sorting office on Edward Street, is due to be sold to developer Ashall Hospitality in a deal supported by £8m of Levelling Up funding awarded to the council by the previous Conservative government.

A Blackpool Council spokesperson said: “In collaboration with Ashall Hospitality, we are conducting preliminary surveys and feasibility assessments. These findings will guide our evaluation of the scheme’s viability before any decisions are confirmed.”

Some of the £8m of Levelling Up funding is being used to carry out surveys, while the rest will be released in instalments towards the purchase and construction phases once the purchase is hopefully completed.

It is hoped to develop a high-quality hotel, including a mix of around 150 rooms that are suitable both for the conference/corporate market and the leisure market.

In January the council approved a grant funding agreement with Ashall Hospitality (Blackpool) LLP which is continuing to explore the viability of redeveloping the building into an Indigo Hotel.

The ground floor would also include a restaurant and bar for hotel guests and non-residents, with frontages on both Abingdon Street and Edward Street, with the design incorporating the old post office counter.

The scheme received Levelling Up funding in March 2023 after twice being turned down for funding in bids made by the council.

Once a busy hub of activity in the town centre, offering multiple public counters for members of the public while in use as a Post Office, the building has been empty since 2007 and has since fallen into disrepair.

On several occasions the police have had to deal with groups of youths who have climbed onto its roof, including a recent incident when firefighters attended with an aerial ladder.

The remaining red phone boxes outside the front, which have been a famous sight for decades, are also in a poor state.

The redevelopment includes building an extension with a rooftop terrace on the former sorting office, and a three-storey rear extension after the fifth set of plans for the building were approved in September 2023.

Abingdon street Post office was designed by architect Walter Pott and first opened in 1910.