Rokeby and Lord Laidlaw in £70 mln. partnership to develop two Heathrow hotels (UK)

Barnard Castle-based Rokeby Developments and Scottish businessman and philanthropist, Lord Laidlaw have formed a £70-million (c. €95 mln.) joint venture to develop two new hotels at Heathrow.

The pair have spotted an under provision of hotels adjacent to the new £4.2-billion (c. €5.7 bln.) Terminal 5 building. The new terminal building which opens in March 2008 will be able to handle 30 million passengers per year, taking Heathrow's total number of passengers to around 90 million. The first phase of the terminal opens in March 2008.

The pair have merged adjoining land holdings on the Bath Road close to the new terminal to create a three-acre site which adjoins an Abbey Business Centre owned by Lord Laidlaw.

tp bennett architects have been appointed as master planners. They are working on plans which includes a 400-rooms hotel at the front of the site and a 200-rooms hotel to the rear.

Lord Laidlaw said, "There is currently an under-provision of new hotel beds ahead of the opening of Terminal 5. We think our site created by this new joint venture is an excellent location which has already attracted the attention of hotel operators."

Tom Naylor of Rokeby said, "Rokeby is better known for its schemes in the north east but we are very keen to expand our activities in the south of the UK. We are particularly good at spotting opportunities on challenging sites and are happy to work with a range of partners both public and private. We are ready to do business and confident that the emerging trends in the market will create a number of opportunities for us."

Montagu Evans is advising the joint venture.

Source: Porterfield

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