Nadler Hotels has acquired the freehold of a Covent Garden property from Legal & General Property's UK Property Fund for £15.65 mln (€20 mln).
The hotel group said it plans to convert the building, known as Walter House, into a 56-bedroom hotel under The Nadler brand, the group's fourth in London.
Walter House currently comprises 20,000 sq ft (1,860 m2) of vacant office space set across five upper floors with planning permission for conversion into 18 residential units. The building also includes street level retail sold off on a long lease.
'The sale of Walter House marks an end to our successful business strategy for this asset. The property has performed very well for the fund compared to the wider market over its hold period, and this subsequent sale allows us to crystallise those returns for our investors,' commented Matt Jarvis, fund manager of the Legal & General UK Property Fund.
Lloyd Davies, partner at Gerald Eve, said: 'Work will now begin on securing the necessary permission to enable the property’s conversion into a first-class hotel in a corner of the capital currently under-served by high quality yet affordable accommodation.'
Gerald Eve advised Nadler Hotels on the transaction, while Legal & General Property was represented by CBRE as sole agent.
