HubCap, residential developer Hub’s low-carbon urban living venture, has submitted plans to the City of London Corporation to convert an office-led site at Ludgate Hill, EC4, into a 35-bedroom aparthotel scheme.
The site, at 30-32 Ludgate Hill, is a part-five, part-seven-storey Victorian building constructed in the late 1800s. It measures 12,000 sq ft and is located within the St Paul’s conservation area.
The property is predominately used as offices, with one shop at ground-floor level. The basement contains a redundant bank vault, which was likely to have been built in the 1970s when the Royal Bank of Canada Trust Corporation occupied the building, according to planning documents.
A financial viability statement prepared by consultancy DS2 stated the building is “functionally obsolete and does not meet the requirements of current-day occupiers”.
The premises are 71% vacant, according to HubCap’s design and access statement. The average time a unit remains vacant in the building is estimated to be 2.3 years, while a number of the units have been vacant for more than four years.
Some of the units were fully refurbished, but they have failed to attract new tenants since the renovations were completed in 2022.
Four spaces are let with leases that expire in 2024, the tenant of one of which has gone into administration. All of the tenants have indicated they will not extend their lease.
HubCap’s proposal includes rooms with kitchenettes, front-of-house communal areas, a reception area and ancillary spaces for staff members, as well as a lounge with scope for co-working.
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