Savills Investment Management, the international real estate investment manager, on behalf of the Charities Property Fund (“CPF”), has secured planning permission to convert former office space into a hotel at Westgate Buildings in Bath city centre and agreed a pre-let to Travelodge on a 25-year lease. The upper floors were previously used as offices and following a surrender of the office lease, an agreement with Travelodge was agreed.
Angy Benitz, Portfolio Manager for CPF at Savills Investment Management, commented, “Bath attracts almost one million overnight visitors each year and is undersupplied in terms of hotel rooms, making this a great hotel for Travelodge. Bath is exactly the type of location that we look to invest in over the long term because it is supply constrained coupled with robust occupier demand. We have deliberately built up a core holding within the immediate vicinity of this asset extending to three other nearby properties.
“This asset management initiative was set out in the business plan at purchase and has resulted in an 85% increase in rent and a doubling in value for the upper parts. Achieving planning permission and securing Travelodge is a great result for our charity investors, some of whom are located in Bath.”
Savills Investment Management is an international real estate investment manager with offices in Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney and Tokyo. As at 31 March 2016, Savills Investment Management managed a total of c.€17bn of assets.
