Splash exits Midland Hotel

Urban Splash has sold the Midland Hotel in Morecambe for an undisclosed sum in an off-market deal to overseas aid charity the Lancaster Foundation.

The 44-room Art Deco hotel reopened in 2008 after Splash completed an £11m restoration partly funded by public grants. In April 2009, the developer agreed a management deal with English Lakes Hotels, owner of five hotels in Cumbria and Lancashire, to run the Midland.

Clitheroe-based Lancaster Foundation, which had funds of £50m and income of £1.9m in the year to April 2010 according to Charities Direct, has acquired the freehold of the hotel as an investment.

Chris Richardson of The Lancaster Foundation said: "We are delighted to invest in this great hotel. We believe with our commitment to the property and English Lakes Hotels management the hotel will go from strength to strength."

Tom Bloxham, chairman of Urban Splash, said: "We are very proud of the Midland Hotel and all that has been achieved since it opened in June 2008. The Midland Hotel is a much-loved building, and it was a joy for us to be able to restore and reopen this iconic hotel once again.

"We have sold the freehold to the Lancaster Foundation in an off-market transaction. The sale shows that there is a demand for quality Urban Splash assets.

"This sale completes phase one of our development in Morecambe and we are now concentrating our efforts on securing planning for phase two of the proposals on the adjoining site."