RO Real Estate, the UK commercial property investment and development company, has started the development of a £17 million (approx. €21 million) aparthotel scheme at Newhall Square in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter.
RO has secured a pre-let for the building with Staycity Serviced Apartments, one of the leading serviced apartment providers in Europe. The 30-year lease is part of an on-going expansion for Staycity, which already over 1,000 apartments across eight European cities including Dublin, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London Heathrow, London Greenwich, Manchester, Paris and Amsterdam. The company is aiming to expand its operations to 5,000 apartments over the next five years.
The 170-room aparthotel building will include a selection of studio and one and two-bedroom apartments all equipped with kitchens and ensuites. The asset will form part of RO’s wider Newhall Square mixed-use scheme, which comprises a mix of new-build and refurbished offices and hotels.
Elias Topping, Buckley Gray Yeoman, Copeland Wedge Associates and Church House Building Services are the design team, with GB Building Solutions appointed as the contractor. The building is expected to be open in May 2015.
Richard Bourne, head of RO Real Estate, said: “The Staycity development at Newhall Square is in a prime central location within the historic Jewellery Quarter and close to the Colmore Business District, providing an ideal location for both leisure and business visitors.
“We are very pleased to have secured a pre-let to such a high-calibre tenant as Staycity and it is an endorsement of our ability to identify and deliver attractive speculative developments.”
Staycity CEO Tom Walsh said: “We are delighted to announce this deal, which is an important part of our European expansion strategy. Birmingham is one of the most important business and leisure centres outside London. This property will give us a stronger foothold in the city as the demand for serviced apartments grows.”
Source: RO Real Estate
