Plans have been submitted to Southampton City Council for the development of a £60m four star Millennium & Copthorne-operated hotel in the city’s Ocean Village, which could open as early as the end of 2010.

The 224-room hotel, to be called Millennium Hotel Southampton, will be developed and owned by Marina Developments Ltd, with financing from parent company Yattendon Investment Trust.

Savill is providing property management services for the facility, which has been designed by the London office of HKR Architects.

The development will be located on the site of a former boatyard on Maritime Walk, at Princess Alexandra dock, and will have prominent waterside frontage. It will be built as a series of interlocking blocks, with a 10-storey guestroom block floating over a podium.

The 224 rooms will include a mix of luxury suites, family guestrooms, and club guestrooms.

A three-storey reception space will transform into a theatre in the evenings, and a ballroom will open onto a landscaped public piazza.

Further facilities will include banqueting and conferencing for up to 800, 139 car-parking spaces, a restaurant and café bar with terraces, a dedicated spa floor, and an executive and marina berth holders club lounge.

Southampton City Council’s planning committee will decide on the proposal in the next few weeks, a spokesperson for Marina Developments said, after which a construction company will be appointed.

The potential late 2010 opening date is a “rough guide” with the assumption that everything will go to plan, the spokesperson said.

“This dramatic and high-quality scheme will further complement the cohesive development of Ocean Village and will help position the marina as the premier world class yachting destination on the south coast,” said Bernard Lee, director at HKR Architects’ London office.

Gavin Hall, member of the Savills team which prepared the planning application, added: “We have worked closely with HKR Architects to ensure that the scheme optimises the solution for residents, local businesses and councillors, berth holders and the yachting fraternity, as well as the operator and events organisers, in order to bring the heart back to Ocean Village.”