Torbay Council has submitted plans for a 150-bedroom hotel on The Strand in Torquay, a project worth £75m that could bring new life to a site that has stood empty for more than five years. The scheme would involve demolishing some buildings, including the former Debenhams department store.
The council said it would then work with a developer and a hotel firm to deliver the project, which it described as "a gamechanger" for the town.
But there is opposition. Historic England has expressed concern, and the Torbay Civic Society says the development is too big and out of keeping with the area.
The Debenhams store closed in 2021. Earlier plans for flats and retail on the site were found to be "not financially viable", external.
David Thomas, the Conservative leader of Torbay Council, said the authority was already talking with developers and hotel firms and the project would be funded by council cash and private investment.
He said: "I can't stress it enough – this really is a gamechanger for Torbay.
"Investors and hotel groups are saying this is probably the best hotel site left in the South West."
The council has spent more than £20m of government funding on redeveloping the area across the road. Thomas said: "People rightly enthuse about this space but then they look across the road and they see Debenhams."
The council has bought most of the properties on the site and said it would consider compulsory purchase orders for the two remaining properties if planning permission is granted.
The planned hotel would be up to six storeys high with a rooftop bar, and shops, bars and restaurants on the ground floor.
Historic England said in its response that the height of the building could block "important views" from The Terrace, a crescent of houses built in 1811 above the hotel site.
Sally Allen-Gerard, chairwoman of Torbay Civic Society, also raised concerns about the impact on The Terrace, plus noise, traffic and how the new building would fit in.
She said: "It's going to be totally incongruous within the environment which is a conservation area.
"The actual design doesn't take into account the historic buildings surrounding it."
Allen-Gerard said "something has to be built there" but the designers should "go back to the drawing board".
£75m Hotel Scheme Proposed for Torquay Landmark Site