Plans have been submitted for a new multi-million pound hotel on the former Joplings site in Sunderland City Centre.
The building, on John Street in Sunderland city centre, has stood empty since 2010 when the department store closed after entering administration.
If planning permission is approved, the hotel would include 122 bedrooms located on first, second and third floor of the building, with a restaurant and meeting rooms on the ground floor.
The company responsible for the project, Sanguine Hospitality, are in talks to brand the hotel as a Holiday Inn Express, should it get the go ahead.
Sanguine Hospitality are a specialist hotel development company who have brought brands such as Hotel Indigo Newcastle and the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse to the North East.
A spokesperson for Sanguine told SR News:
“The Joplings building, with its distinctive art deco, is an exciting project within which we aim to help with the ongoing regeneration of the City of Sunderland and hope to attract more visitors, both leisure and business alike.“We also hope that the hotel will encourage other businesses to locate in the city centre.”
The company are hoping to open the hotel in the Summer of 2017.