Whitbread has acquired the freehold of 35 Red Lion Square in London.
The eight-storey building comprising 47,500 sq ft has been the headquarters of the Royal College of Anaesthetists since 2006 and will now be turned into a 150-bed Premier Inn hotel.
Whitbread says it sees the potential at the site for a hub by Premier Inn hotel, a concept which uses a compact room format to allow development in prime city locations with high property costs. The hotels range in size from a 60-bedroom hub by Premier Inn at Bank in the City of London to a 690-room hub at 5 Strand which is due to open in 2028.
A planning application to convert the building is expected to be submitted to Camden Council this summer.
As part of its London growth plan, the company is actively searching for 40 locations for Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn within the M25.
Whitbread was advised on the acquisition by Frame Real Estate Partners. The Royal College of Anaesthetists was advised by Newmark.
What they said
Jonathan Langdon, senior acquisitions manager at Whitbread says: “hub by Premier Inn has been a huge success for Whitbread since we launched the brand in 2014 and we see huge potential in the years ahead. With 35 Red Lion Square now under Whitbread’s ownership, I’m looking forward to working with the planning team at Camden Council on our plans to retrofit and extend the existing building.”