A new future for the former Palmerston Road department store Knight and Lee has won the approval of Portsmouth City Council planners.
The interior of the iconic 1950s Southsea building will be renovated to provide a 43-bedroom hotel, a gym, two 84-seat cinemas, two retail units and an indoor food market. The hotel’s bar will be open to the public.
Part of the John Lewis group, Knight and Lee was closed in 2019 and in the same year developer That Group was given initial planning permission for the change of use but the Covid-19 pandemic led to a rethink and changes to the internal layouts which were agreed on August 11.
