BIDDERS are being sought for a new hotel in the heart of Dorchester’s £100million Brewery Square development.

Expressions of interest are being invited for the hotel, complete with spa and function rooms, in the grade two listed Victorian Brewhouse.

The original building was designed in 1880 by Crickmay and Sons, the architect for whom Thomas Hardy worked before his career as a writer, and has planning consent of a 48 to 84 bed hotel overlooking the main square.

The scheme also includes an 11,000 square foot spa and swimming pool as well as two function rooms, one of which – The Thomas Hardy Hall – will be the largest function room in the county town.

The hotel is being marketed by leisure property specialists Fleurets, which was instructed by Brewery Square partners Resolution Property and Waterhouse, on a freehold or leasehold basis.

The new facility will be at the heart of a mixed-use retail, leisure and retail development on the site of the former Eldridge Pope Brewery.

There will be 293 apartments on site by mid 2016 and when completed the scheme will include 578 apartments and 32 town houses.

Current Brewery Square occupiers include Cote Brasserie, Carluccio’s, Wagamama, Zizzi, Pizza Express, Vivo Lounge, Nandos, Brewhouse & Kitchen, Costa, Premier Inn and a new Odeon Cinema.

Fashion retailers in the square include Hobbs, Joules, Gerry Weber, Phase Eight and Jones Bootmakers.

Kevin Conibear, an associate at Fleurets, said the hotel He said: “This is an iconic building steeped in history in the centre of a hugely successful development.

“The overall Brewery Square scheme has been sympathetically developed to create a vibrant new quarter, accommodating a host of national retail and leisure operators.

“The scheme presents a unique opportunity for a hotel operator to secure a flagship, trophy building in a prime position, within the very heart of the county town and to thrive on the development’s success.”

For more information contact Paul Hardwick or Kevin Conibear at Fleurets on 0207 280 4749 or 0117 913 8090.

Interested parties can also email either paul.hardwick@fleurets.com or kevin.conibear@fleurets.com or visit fleurets.com