Plans have been submitted for a £3.5m luxury hotel in the centre of Paisley.

The development would transform two historic buildings into a 40-room boutique hotel with bar, brasserie and conferencing facilities.

Property developer and architect Tom Stewart is behind the plans and hopes to start work in the summer of next year.

If approved by Renfrewshire Council, the new hotel, to be called the Patternmaker, could create more than 50 full and part-time jobs.

The five-year scheme involves the redevelopment of the listed Kelvin House and Forbes Place, located directly across from Paisley Abbey.

There are also plans for a microbrewery and short and long-stay car parking facilities associated with the hotel.

Kelvin House, which has an Art Deco front, was designed by James Steel Maitland and built in 1939, while Forbes Place dates from 1830 and was once used for pattern making. It was also a shawl warehouse for the thread industry.

Mr Stewart, who also owns the four-star Ashtree House Hotel near Paisley Museum, said he hoped the project could help drive the regeneration of Paisley.

He said: “Successful regeneration projects tend to have an anchor development around which other developments and investments are stimulated. We see the regeneration of Kelvin House and the Patternmaker building in the same way.

“It is an outstanding location adjacent to the Abbey and has the potential to become a focal point as the economy of the town develops.

“There is a lot of grassroots work under way at the moment to put the right infrastructure and strategies in place to build the town’s economy.

“Tourism, in particular heritage tourism, support for businesses and public realm investment are just some of the initiatives now under way. A lot of tourism and business traffic currently bypasses Paisley but that is going to change.”

He added: “Currently the town has just two hotels, so there will be significant demand for a quality hotel, leisure and business services venue of the type that we will be targeting.”