Southampton City Council (SCC) has secured a development agreement with Development Securities to move forward plans for the third and final phase of the city's WestQuay scheme.

WestQuay B3, which will be built next to the headquarters of cruise operator Carnival UK and opposite the planned £100m Watermark WestQuay site, will feature a 155-bedroom hotel and 60,000sq ft (5,574sq m) of office space. A lease agreement has already been secured with budget operator Premier Inn to operate the new hotel when complete, while ground floor uses are set to include restaurants and retail units.

Royston Smith, SCC cabinet member for major economic developments, said: "The scheme brings closer the prospect of 400 new jobs to the city, the prospect of a new hotel and a modern office building with flexible accommodation, restaurants and retails units. "It is good to see that more and more developers and investment companies are realising that Southampton is rapidly becoming the place they want to be and that, despite the recession, Southampton is very much open for business."