Developers Union Hanover Securities and Southern Grove have been granted permission to transform a 75,000 sq ft (7,000 m2) office building in London into a 217-bed four-star extended stay hotel for Urban Villa.
Developers Union Hanover Securities and Southern Grove have been granted permission to transform a 75,000 sq ft (7,000 m2) office building in London into a 217-bed four-star extended stay hotel for Urban Villa.
The new hotel at 45 Whitechapel Road was designed by architects Grzywinski + Pons (G+P) from New York, in collaboration with Dexter Moren.
Union Hanover director Andrew Fowler said the company is planning a major expansion of its Urban Villa concept. 'We currently own five sites where we are rolling out the Urban Villa concept; we are under offer on two more and hope to have doubled our current portfolio within 24 months.'
He added the company would be targeting similar London locations like Bethnal Green, Southwark, Hackney, Brixton and Camden having now acquired most of its non-London targets such as Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
'The next phase will be key European gateway cities such as Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris and we would love to do something in New York,' Fowler added.
Work on the Whitechapel hotel will begin next summer and the JV has appointed Restaurant Property to secure an operator for an independently operated rooftop restaurant which boasts terraces with views across the City.
Alastair Crowdy, national head of development at GL Hearn, advised on planning.
