The Block 2017 starts casting contestants as St Kilda's Gatwick Hotel tipped

As Channel Nine officially start casting for the next contestants for season 13 of The Block, it is reported that St Kilda's grubby Gatwick Hotel could be the heroic site to renovate.

It looks like the show, who worked on the seedy Savills Hotel in season 11, are set to make the Gatwick their biggest layout in the show's history. 

The 64 room hotel had been on the market for a year before being removed from the market in October with an ambitious $11 million asking price.

It has been reported by the local papers that the producers of the reality TV series were in serious negotiations however it is yet to be formally apparent as a done deal.

It would be far and away the biggest price the Block will have paid for a development site and would be over double of the $5,025,000 they paid for the Port Melbourne soap factory for the last series.

The Gatwick Hotel traded for $3.04 million in 1998.

It could be renovated by a fresh batch of contestants, with the ad on www.castasugar.com only appearing in the last few days.