Torbay council and Torbay Development Agency granted planning permission for a £90m luxury resort and flats development on the site of the existing Torquay Palace Hotel in Torbay in March.

Mapstone Developments are consulting GJR Architects to create the 137 apartments – a mix of flats and duplex units – with 270 parking spaces, private spa and leisure facilities.

Divided into four blocks of flats in a gated, concierge-serviced community linked to the hotel, these apartments will finance a £20m staged redevelopment of the hotel.

Accommodation within the hotel will be increased to 160-bedrooms with an extra penthouse storey. New luxury spas, restaurants and swimming pools are included in the Palace Hotel’s expansion plans, as well as an extension of their 28-acre site to include Ansteys Cove and a stretch of Redgate Beach.

“This is a new phase for the Palace Hotel to respond to the changing needs of the tourism market,” said Paul Uphill, managing director of the Palace Hotel.

“The aim is to build on the Palace’s popularity and branch out into new markets. Mapstone will take this grand building into the 21st Century with a complete revamp, whilst retaining its original splendour, which is steeped in architectural features and was once the palace of the Bishop of Exeter.”

Work on the project may start as early as summer, enabling the reopening of Redgate Beach after it was closed off for 15 years following subsidence.

The number of employees on the complex is expected to rise from 90 to 120 by 2015 and it is hoped that visitor spending will increase from £1.3m to approximately £4.5m in 2019.