Peel Hotels has finalised the sale of its Leeds city centre property, The Cosmopolitan Hotel, for an undisclosed sum.
The freehold site has been purchased by the newly-formed Belfont Hotels, a joint venture owned by the Thakerar and Dhamecha families. It marks the first hotel acquired by the group, which plans to add other hotels within UK cities to its portfolio.
The site features 89 guest bedrooms, as well as an “extensive” ground floor lounge, bar and restaurant facilities.
Keval Thakerar, from Belfont Hotels, said: “We are excited to have secured such a diverse hotel as The Cosmopolitan.
“Leeds city centre generates such strong corporate and leisure demand across the year and, once our investment has been undertaken, we will have one of the best hospitality venues in the city.”
Akshay Dhamecha, also from Belfont Hotels, added: “We look forward to working with the Thakerar Family on our first hotel acquisition and further growing the Belfont Hotel portfolio.
“The Cosmopolitan is a landmark building in the heart of the city and with further investment to the hotel, we are confident the hotel will be very popular. We are glad to have Countrywide Hotels as our management team where their experience has proved paramount.”
Jeremy Jones, head of hotels brokerage at Christie and Co, who handled the sale, said: “When we launched The Cosmopolitan to the market earlier this year, we received a huge response from a whole range of parties.
“To be announcing the sale of such a substantial hotel at this time is evidence of the very real activity Christie & Co is seeing across the whole of the UK. Watch out for the announcement of further hotel sales in the weeks ahead.”
David Lee, regional hotel director, North East, at Christie and Co, added: “The Cosmopolitan Hotel is one of the most iconic hotels in the city of Leeds, occupying a position right in the heart of the city.
“The considerable interest shown in the hotel during the process demonstrates that demand for quality Hospitality assets in the Yorkshire area remains undiminished. We welcome Belfont Hotels to the city.”
