Premier Inn buys Liverpool One site
Grosvenor has agreed a deal with Premier Inn to build a 186-bedroom hotel on Hanover Street at the entrance to the Liverpool One development.
Premier Inn said it will spend around £12m on the building, designed by architects Allison Pike, which will take its total number of beds in the city past 500. The group has hotels on Vernon Street and in the Albert Dock.
John Bates, head of acquisitions for Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants, said: "Premier Inn is the most successful budget hotel operator in the UK today and we want to ensure that ongoing success by investing in key locations – Liverpool is one of these. By adding a new hotel at Liverpool One, we can be part of this exciting regeneration story and ensure that, as well as having hotels in the business centre (Vernon Street) and entertainment centre (Albert Dock), we will now also have one in the heart of the city's retail centre. We're delighted to be investing here, to be creating 50 new jobs and to be partnering with Grosvenor on the outstanding Liverpool One scheme."
Whitbread has acquired the freehold of the cleared site, which is near to the large new Tesco and formerly housed to an NCP multi-storey car park. The hotel will occupy 76,000 sq ft of the 100,000 sq ft building. The ground and first floors will be handed back to Grosvenor on completion for retail letting.
A 15-month build is planned with the hotel due to open in autumn 2012, subject to planning.
Guy Butler, Liverpool One development director, said: "Premier Inn's arrival will be a great addition to Liverpool One. Finalising this innovative deal is a considerable achievement given current commercial market conditions."
Outside the city centre, Premier Inn has hotels at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Liverpool North (Bootle), Rainhill, Roby, Tarbock and West Derby.
It’s obviously good to see the site used again and who are we to question the mighty Grosvenor after all they’ve done – yes there’s a but coming – but I can’t help feeling sadly deflated by the image and the use. Is there a ‘hotel grey’ now, it works on the Malmaison next to the water but it looks a bit dour and drab here. I also hope Liverpool doesn’t over-run the hotel thing.
By Brocklebank
I agree that this is not the most exciting place and design to build ANOTHER Premier Inn. It is sad that the planners did not come up with a more open scheme. I also think it is about time to fill in gaps with green public spaces instead of building more one and two-bed luxury apartments and more hotels. Think about sustainability and longevity and add quality of life and more interesting things to the centre!
By Diana