Quintain has exchanged contracts on the sale of the Plaza Hotel in Wembley City.
The 306 room hotel has been sold to to Sojourn Hotel Groupfor £15m. Quintain says the proceeds from the transaction, which will complete in June 2012, will be used to reduce forecast gearing levels.
The original Wembley planning consent, secured in 2004, assumed the redevelopment of the hotel into residential accommodation. However, in response to changing markets, Quintain’s development strategy for the next two years is to focus on and complete the core leisure and entertainment elements of the scheme, comprising the new 4 star 361 room Hilton Hotel and the 350,000 sq ft London Designer Outlet. The Hilton will open before the Olympics next summer and the London Designer Outlet is on schedule to open in October 2013.
Thereafter, activity will focus on residential elements of the development, including the 1.7m sq ft North West Lands surrounding Brent’s new Civic Centre. The residential consent originally attributed to the Plaza site will be reallocated elsewhere on the 85 acre scheme.
Max James, Director of Quintain, commented: “The disposal of the Plaza Hotel represents the continuation of our strategy of releasing capital from assets where value has been added while creating a vibrant entertainment destination at Wembley. ”
Shiraz Boghani, Chairman of Sojourn Hotels, added: “This acquisition fits with our investment strategy of acquiring assets that provide the opportunity for growth. Quintain’s regeneration of Wembley is gathering pace. With the Olympics next year and subsequent opening of the London Designer Outlet at the heart of the scheme in 2013, we believe that we will soon see Wembley transformed into a thriving and dynamic quarter of London.”
