London real estate development and investment group Dominvs Group has secured €75.6 mln of fresh funding, facilitated by Coutts and Clydesdale Bank in two separate facilities.
Coutts is providing €53 mln for the development of a new Hampton by Hilton hotel in London’s Aldgate, while Clydesdale Bank has granted a €22.6 mln investment loan for the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Oxford.
The hotel at 12-20 Osborn Street in Aldgate, formerly the Arbor City Hotel, was purchased by Dominvs Group in October 2018 and planning was granted for a new larger hotel scheme on the site during Q4 2018. The new funding facility refinances the original acquisition loan for the site and allows for the development of the new 118,000 sq ft, 278-room hotel, with practical completion scheduled for June 2023.
Located in the historic centre of Oxford, the Courtyard by Marriott Oxford City Centre hotel was completed in July 2019, with an 11-room extension opened in January 2020. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the 151-key hotel achieved over 50% occupancy rates during the summer of 2020. The new investment from Clydesdale Bank refinances an incumbent loan that funded the development of the building and ensured that construction was on schedule. The site at Paradise Street was purchased by Dominvs Group in October 2014 and was formerly the HQ of Cooper Callas, a kitchen and bathroom distributor.
Preeptal Ahluwalia, director at Dominvs Group, said: ‘The successful funding reflects our good banking relationships and confidence in the group’s development and operational capabilities, alongside rising optimism in the UK hotel industry following the start of the Covid-19 vaccination programme in the UK. It is excellent to see the confidence in the hotel industry returning and these two hotels are well-placed to benefit from the gradual return of both domestic and overseas visitors to London and Oxford, two of the UK’s most popular tourist and business trip hotspots and destinations of increasing hotel need.’
