Hotel chain Sol Meliá has bought the incomplete five-star Marconi House hotel scheme at 336-337 Strand, W1, from Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, for £97m (€113m), EGi News has learnt.
Sol Meliá said that it would now take over the construction of the hotel, which is part of the redevelopment of Marconi House, for an estimated £45m (€52m).
The ME by Meliá is expected to open in 2012 and will be the second hotel for the Sol Meliá chain in
Spanish bank BBVA appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers receivers to the Marconi House development in July 2009 after Spanish developer Grupo Urvasco failed to sell the project for more than £100m.
PwC, advised by Cushman & Wakefield, sold the redevelopment to Anida, a subsidiary of BBVA, for over £100m in January 2010.
Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, vice chairman and CEO of Sol Meliá, said: “This deal brings the addition of a strategic asset in a key destination, and also positions the brand in one of the most important feeder markets in the world travel industry.”
The hotel was designed by Foster + Partners.
annabel.dixon@estatesgazette.com
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