Sale of former Signature Living hotel shelved
The hunt for a buyer for 30 James Street in Liverpool has been put on hold because the £12.5m asking price was not met.
The 63-bedroom hotel, previously part of Signature Living’s hotel portfolio, was put up for sale last year following the collapse of the company’s hotels division.
Moorfields Advisory was appointed to manage the administration of the SPV that controlled 30 James Street.
Savills, acting as receiver and sales agent, was appointed to find a buyer for the grade two-listed building to recoup cash for creditors.
However, the sales process has now been shelved.
The hotel is currently being operated by Legacy Hotels and Resorts and is trading “very successfully”, according to Savills. Legacy also operates Liverpool’s Pullman Hotel and the newly completed Novotel at Paddington Village.
A spokesperson for the company said Savills remain in office [as receiver] and is aware of its duties to get the best price for the asset.”
30 James Street is known for its history as the former headquarters of the White Star shipping line, the grade two-listed hotel.
The only likely buyers are either experienced hotel entrepreneurs who appreciate the hotel’s distinctive product offer OR branded operators. For the former, the price is too toppy because they’ll be looking for a bargain, whilst for the latter the price is too high because of the cost of converting the building to comply with their brand and product standards. They’ll need to halve the price, at least, to move this thing.
By Sceptical
Interesting!!! Given how hot the Liverpool hotel market is at the moment, what can we infer from people not wanting to take it on at that price?
Any word on the attempted disposal of the mangled mess that is 60 Old Hall Street??
By Jeff
Knock it down and build something useful
By Anonymous
Interesting and historic building , wonder what prices were offered , there will have to be a compromise somewhere, even though the hotel market in Liverpool is very buoyant .
By Anonymous
Surely Legacy Hotels are paying a decent rent?
By Anonymous
Yes, agree with sceptical, it’s going to be difficult to justify that kind of money in todays market. It will be interesting to see what it goes for and who buys it.
By Will
check companies house multiple businesses own parts of the property – who owns the freehold…. obvious how this is going to end
By Anonymous