Cola Holdings, the hotel landlord founded by Kurdish-born Bakir Cola, has formally put its £1 bn (€1.14 bn) hotel & retail portfolio in London's Mayfair up for sale.
The company has instructed Savills to seek offers for the luxury portfolio which comprises the 225-bedroom Westbury hotel, the Burberry store on Bond Street and Washington House, a building occupied by the private members' Conduit Club.
Having owned the hotel for over 20 years, the Cola family recently received planning permission to extensively redevelop the existing hotel building, which will include an extension to the rear, the re-build of the sixth and seventh floors and a new eighth floor. This will enable a reconfiguration of the floors to create much larger rooms and a number of suites which will attract top-tier luxury brands.
Anthony Selwyn, co-head of global retail at Savills, who has been advising the family for over 10 years, commented: ‘It is extremely rare for a mixed use freehold opportunity like this to come to market with exceptional hotel development potential and existing ultra- prime retail. We expect investors from all over the globe to be very competitive in their attempts to secure this fantastic trophy in London.’
Robert Stapleton, director, Savills EMEA Hotels, added: ‘The sale of The Westbury presents a once in a generation opportunity to acquire one of London’s most sought-after hotels and, with the benefit of the planning consents we’ve secured, the hotel can be substantially remodelled and extended to create one of London’s finest hotels befitting its extraordinary prime Mayfair location.’
The asset is the second landmark hotel for sale in London. Sir Frederick Barclay, the billionaire co-owner of the 114-year-old Ritz hotel reportedly said this week that he is considering selling it after having received a number of offers over £1 bn for the London asset which he bought together with his twin brother Sir David in 1995.
