Hotelier Radisson Edwardian is finalising a deal to buy the 0.47-acre Leicester Square site next to its existing hotel in the popular tourist area.
Owners Nama and Tamarin/Real Estate Solutions have exchanged with the hotelier’s parent Edwardian Group.
Planning Permission was granted in October 2008 for the redevelopment of the site to provide a two-screen cinema, 245-bedroom hotel, 33 flats, four restaurants at ground floor and one at ninth floor level. The entire MAKE-designed scheme would provide 215,000 sq ft of space. However, Edwardian is planning to unveil its own plans in the coming weeks.
The deal comes just a few weeks after Nama and Tamarin/Real Estate Solutions agreed to hand over more than 20,000 sq ft of space in the existing building to Radisson Edwardian in exchange for the removal of their right-to-light claims.
This agreement gave the private hotelier a block of around 77 bedrooms on a 999-year lease.
Bidders for the site, which selling agents CBRE and Knight Frank had hoped would fetch around £100m, said the move had made it “a lot less attractive”. A sale price to Edwardian has not yet been disclosed.
Among the bidders were Exemplar Properties, Criterion Capital and Soho Estates, London & Regional, Gracemark with a European fund manager, and hotel group Hilton Worldwide.
Edwardian’s chief operating officer Paul Mansi said: “Leisure experiences are at the heart of the company’s DNA and we are keen to create new and exciting offerings for the local market and the myriad visitors to the city. The acquisition, and our ambitious plans, will both create jobs in the area and put the spotlight firmly back on the revitalised Leicester Square. Details of our plans will be unveiled in the coming weeks.”
Jon Gershinson and Simon Davidson of Allsop LLP are the receivers acting on behlaf of Nama.
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
