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Z Hotels, the “compact luxury” hotel chain, has plans to acquire and refurbish a mixed-use building in Leicester Square, after securing a £23m co-loan from neobank OakNorth and real estate funding specialist, ASK Partners.
The hotel group, which has been a long-standing customer of both OakNorth and ASK, most recently secured a loan with OakNorth in June 2023 to fund the construction of an additional 20 rooms at its Piccadilly location.
Meanwhile, ASK provided funding for its Trafalgar Square hotel.
The new hotel in Leicester Square, which will be located along Charing Cross Road, will consist of a ground and basement floor, plus a fifth-floor attic. Subject to planning, the hotel is expected to have a minimum of 81 rooms and a maximum of 95 rooms.
Bev King, CEO of Z Hotels, said: “Our guests predominantly want to spend a couple of nights in a city centre location either for business or pleasure, to explore the city, and to sleep in generously designed surroundings.
“This new site situated on Leicester Square’s doorstep embodies this demand perfectly, providing our residents with compact but well-designed bedrooms at affordable prices.”
He added: “Our relationship with OakNorth and ASK now spans multiple transactions and we see them both as key funding partners who we know we can rely on to support our ambitious growth targets.”
Since first launching in 2011, Z Hotels has experienced “continued” success with 14 sites now operational, including 11 in London and one each in Liverpool, Bath and Glasgow. In total, the group offers over 1,700 rooms.
