This Week's London Deal Sheet
The Deal Sheet is a weekly compilation of Greater London and beyond's biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit? Email mark.faithfull@bisnow.com.
KOP Group has purchased the 105-room Burns Hotel located in Earls Court, London off a guide price of £35M.
Burns Hotel, set across five interconnected townhouses, features 105 guest rooms, a reception bar, restaurant and private garden. The property will undergo a renovation to a boutique luxury hotel and will be operated by Montigo Resorts when it reopens in Q1 2024.
Agent Knight Frank facilitated the sale to the Singapore-based investor, which completed on 30 May 2023.
The acquisition marks the second hotel that KOP has bought this year, following the group’s purchase of Charlton House Hotel & Spa in Somerset via its public vehicle, KOP Limited. The Grade II-listed country house is expected to relaunch this summer.
DEALS
Melford Capital Partners has acquired 5-9 Great Newport Street in London’s West End from Consolidated Development Limited for £40M.
The site comprises three adjoining properties that contain a mixture of uses, including theatre, gallery/retail, offices and education facilities. The existing buildings total 44.7K SF.
The site has planning consent to create a 322-seat theatre, 66-bedroom luxury hotel with rooftop bar and pool, restaurant, bar and gallery space. The consented scheme extends to a total of 72.5K SF.
PLANNING
Plans to refurbish and extend the Minerva House office block next to Southwark Cathedral and St Mary Overie Dock have been given the green light by Southwark's planning committee.
Minerva House was built between 1979 and 1981 for Grindlays Bank. As well as offices, it includes 12 flats that would be unaltered by the proposed scheme.
The building was acquired for £60M by Great Portland Estates in 2012 and Minerva House's current office tenant, law firm Winckworth Sherwood, recently announced a move to the Arbor building, Blackfriars Road, part of the Bankside Yards development.
GPE plans to add two storeys to the building and infill the courtyard. The scheme has been designed by Ben Adams Architects.
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Developer Chancerygate has submitted plans to speculatively build 82.4K SF of Grade-A urban logistics and warehousing space in Leatherhead, Surrey.
Called Victory Park, the proposed scheme will comprise 13 leasehold units ranging from 3K SF to 19K SF. The projected gross development value is around £32M.
The 4.6-acre site, which was formerly office and warehouse accommodation, is located off Cleeve Road in Leatherhead Business Park approximately a mile north of the town centre and a mile east of junction 9 of the M25.
Neighbouring occupiers to the proposed development include Unilever and engineering consultancies KBR and RINA Tech UK.
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Tandridge District Council has granted planning permission for Audley Group’s 150-home integrated retirement community in Lingfield, Surrey.
Audley exchanged on the scheme in May 2022 when it purchased a 15-acre site on the St Piers Estate owned by national charity Young Epilepsy. The village will be Audley’s fourth site in Surrey.
Young Epilepsy and Audley are proposing a landscape-led plan that will rejuvenate the St. Piers Estate, securing a sustainable long-term future for Young Epilepsy’s special education services on the estate, while creating a new integrated retirement community.
The joint plans include the removal and reuse of vacant and underused buildings, refurbishment and expansion of college facilities for young people, as well as the restoration of heritage assets, including two Grade-II Listed buildings within the St. Pier’s Estate.
RETAIL
Apple is preparing a new retail store at the iconic Battersea Power Station in London, with the opening date set for June 15, and plans to offer tours.
Apple’s new retail store will be housed within the premises of the former power station where the company's UK headquarters are situated and the company will offer an Art Tour and Photo Tour to celebrate the opening and explore the power station. Additionally, Apple has created brick-themed wallpaper that evokes the station's construction.
PEOPLE
Pan-European real estate investment company Europa has grown its asset management team with the appointment of Mantas Storpirstis as a director.
Based in London, Storpirstis will report to the head of Value-Add Asset Management Jeremy Bullock and have responsibility for reviewing and enhancing all the processes within the asset management team.
Mantas brings over eight years’ experience in real estate investment across Europe, specifically asset and portfolio management, origination, transactions and investor reporting.
He has joined from RBC Capital Markets where he spent the last 3.5 and-a-half years executing real estate transactions, originating senior and mezzanine debt as well as whole loans across the UK and Europe.
