Horseracing group The Jockey Club has announced plans to make its largest ever investment in racecourse facilities with the unveiling of a £45m project for Cheltenham Racecourse.

Subject to planning permission, the proposed development will create a new grandstand in place of the 1920s A&R block that currently contains private boxes. The new grandstand will include general public viewing areas, new annual members' facilities, private boxes and Royal Box facilities.

The investment will include improvements for owners and trainers, and focus on enhancing the overall customer experience at the racecourse, including elevated walkways to ease mobility and multi-tiered viewing of the parade ring.

Provided planning permission is achieved in time and the necessary financing is in place, the main development will begin immediately after the 2014 Festival with a scheduled completion date ahead of the 2016 Festival.

During the construction period, Cheltenham would be able to continue staging its race programme as normal.

The Jockey Club, which runs 15 racecourses in the UK including Cheltenham, Aintree, Epsom Downs and the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, has invested more than £80m in facilities at Cheltenham over the last 30 years.

Paul Fisher, group managing director of Jockey Club Racecourses, said: "The Jockey Club Board commissioned a feasibility study into the proposed development at Cheltenham. With that completed and having now been presented with a robust business plan, a range of financing options and a carefully tested design, they had no hesitation in approving the project.

"The economy remains challenging, but we continue to grow our business successfully year-after-year, allowing us to invest more into our sport. We are contributing a record amount into prize money in 2013 from our own resources and that will remain a key area of focus for us. We propose to finance the development at Cheltenham through a range of commercially-sound methods, on which there will be more news in the coming weeks."

In the last ten years, The Jockey Club has invested more than £155m in new facilities and upgrades across its racecourse estate including the new grandstands at Aintree (£31m, two grandstands) and Epsom Downs (£28m, one grandstand).