You wait for a refurbishment and conversion of a historic building along Whitehall with a military history into a hotel and then two come along at once...
Hot on the heels of (and less than 50 metres away from) the Galliard-built, Hyatt-soft-branded Unbound Collection Great Scotland Yard Hotel comes the Old War Office, a mix of luxury rooms and residences of 760,000 ft2 GIA which "topped out" (reached its full height) on 12 February 2020. The hotel, which will be called by its acronym, the OWO, is owned by the Hinduja Group, designed by EPR and is being built by a construction team comprising the Ardmore Group, Toureen Group and Elliott Wood.
There is a residual concern, expressed in the Financial Times last week, about the oversupply of luxury residences in London, with many remaining unsold. There is also a significant uptick in purchasers withdrawing from purchases of luxury apartments in London, leading to a wave of litigation - which in the past has been an indicator of a coming recession. There was also a note of caution expressed at EXPO Real in October 2019 about an overheated market....so go carefully out there.
The Hindujas and OHLD bought the Grade II* listed landmark for £350m in December 2014, following a fierce bidding war, and went on to bag planning for a EPR-designed scheme with 125 hotel rooms, a set of private residences, nine restaurants and bars, a spa and boutique retail space.
https://primeresi.com/the-owo-churchills-old-war-office-to-house-first-raffles-serviced-residences-in-uk-europe/
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