The £54.35 million sale of the City & Guilds Group’s former HQ at 24–30 West Smithfield, London EC1 to Whitbread has been confirmed, paving the way for further investment into this fast emerging City fringe location.
The nine-storey building, which comprises approx. 75,000 sq ft of office space will be transformed, subject to planning, into a Premier Inn hotel, the UK’s best loved hotel brand. With Crossrail soon to make Farringdon the heart of London’s transport network, it will be one of the best connected locations in the capital.
Originally the headquarters of the City & Guilds Group, which has since moved into a new home on Giltspur Street, the property also has a residential consent after Daniel Watney’s planning team secured permission last February for a residential conversion into 74 flats.
The building was purchased unconditionally with full vacant possession.
Outstanding location
Jonathan Langdon, acquisitions manager, London West End & City at Whitbread, said:
“This acquisition secures a strategically important site in Farringdon which promises to be one of London’s busiest transport hubs over the next few years. It’s another example of Premier Inn doing deals in outstanding locations and we continue to seek more opportunities across London.”
“Development at West Smithfield in Farringdon, subject to planning, has the potential to add a further 272 bedrooms to the company’s fast-growing London estate.”
Premier Inn targeting 20,000 bedrooms in London
Premier Inn is targeting 20,000 bedrooms in the capital by 2020 and has a strong pipeline of sites coming through which include Tothill St and Dacre St (in Westminster), Great Tower Street (in the City) and Wembley Stadium (Brent) among others.
In April 2015, Premier Inn raised its total growth milestone target to 85,000 bedrooms by 2020 (from approximately 59,000 bedrooms today) and Whitbread confirmed £700 million of projected capital expenditure to support ongoing organic growth this financial year (2015/16) across Premier Inn, Costa and its restaurant brands.
Agents Daniel Watney and Savills jointly advised the City & Guilds Group on the £54.35 million deal which is due to complete at the end of July. JLL advised the purchaser.