Developer reveals plans for eye-catching 15-storey glass hotel it hopes will revitalise Ocean Village and Southampton's waterfront A 15-storey glass hotel is set to become one of Southampton's tallest landmarks.

These dramatic images are the first glimpse of the planned Millennium Copthorne four star deluxe' hotel in Ocean Village.

Rising 60m into the sky, creating 150 jobs and costing £70m, the 225-bed hotel will be built on a promontory jutting into the marina, guaranteeing every room a sea view.

Early plans for a hotel shaped like a ship have been abandoned in favour of a striking, glass-sided building designed to reflect views of the marina.

On the quayside next door there are plans for a 5,500 sq ft public plaza, complete with dramatic artworks, which it is hoped will attract back major sailing events such as the Global Challenge and the Volvo Ocean to the city.

City bosses want the waterfront to be home to joyous scenes such as those recently witnessed in Falmouth when Ellen MacArthur completed her solo navigation of the world.

The hotel will also offer state-of-the-art conference facilities for up to 650 people as well as a spa, a public bar and waterside restaurant.

Elsewhere in the development, which will have improved bus links to the city centre, there are plans for 130 homes and a marine innovation centre, built by Linden Homes.

The hotel and public plaza are being built by Hamble-based Marina Developments Limited, which owns, marinas in Ocean village, Saxon Wharf and at Shamrock Quay among a stable of 18. The hotel will be managed by Millennium Copthorne, a global firm which runs 98 hotels in 18 countries, including six in the UK.

Most of the new buildings will rise on land currently taken up by waterside parking spaces in a bid to "take the best view away from the car".

Instead, a five storey, 776-space multi-storey car park will be built on vacant land at the back of Ocean Village, creating an extra 100 spaces.

Existing buildings such as the Harbour Lights Cinema and offices will be untouched by the development, which has just been lodged with planners and is due for public consultation.

Despite being considerably taller, the new hotel will mirror the development across the water at Woolston Riverside where three tall towers will be built, jutting into the river.

The 15-acre development of flats on the site of the former Vosper Thornycroft shipyard will create 1,500 homes and is designed to create a new waterfront gateway' for Southampton.

MDL hopes its scheme will complement Woolston Riverside and also provide a "striking gateway to the River Itchen and the Port of Southampton".

Edward Iliffe, director of Marina Developments Limited, said: "Our proposals offer many minor and major benefits to the Ocean Village community and occasional business and leisure visitors.

"These include eliminating vacant sites and surface car parking from the water's edge in the interests of human safety and security, and replacing the surface car parking with a state-of-the-art multi-storey car park to the rear of the site, away from the water's edge and pedestrian areas.

"By removing the surface car parking we will free up space for a high quality waterfront piazza and creation of a pedestrian priority environment that will bring Southampton's waterfront back to life and take the best view away from the car."

Gavin Hall, a planning consultant at Savills, the agent managing the scheme said: "It will give residents an urban waterfront quarter in which to work, live and socialise, and engender pride in their city.

"It's a very challenging site having water on three sides and no private rear to the hotel, but the professional team have worked to deliver a building we're all very proud of."

Council leader Adrian Vinson said: "I am very pleased about the development and very keen to see it completed as soon as possible.

"We really want to establish Ocean Village as the first-class venue it has the capability to be, and hopefully this is an opportunity for it to be that."