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Dalata Hotel Group has acquired a development site at 28 St. Andrew’s Square, Edinburgh, for a total consideration of £12.5m from Aviva Life and Pensions UK Limited.
The site includes a Category A listed building which is currently vacant and approved for office use, with planning permission granted for an extension to both the rooftop and rear of the property.
The group plans to submit a revised planning application in Q1 next year, enabling the construction of a new four-star Clayton Hotel, which is expected to be completed by mid-2026.
The group’s hotel scheme is designed to work within the new building envelope permitted under the existing planning permission.
Subject to a successful revised planning application the hotel will incorporate 153 bedrooms, a bar, restaurant, dry gym and two large meeting rooms with “stunning period” features on the first floor overlooking St. Andrew’s Square.
The overall investment in the project, including the site purchase, will be circa £48m, creating circa 60 new employee positions when the hotel is operational.
The new hotel, as part of Dalata’s sustainability strategy, will be one of its first to be designed to operate with zero on-site carbon emissions.
As a conversion scheme, it will also have considerably lower embodied carbon than a new build.
Further to the announcement, Dalata has also completed the acquisition of a leasehold interest in Hard Rock Hotel Amsterdam American.
Dermot Crowley, CEO of Dalata, said: “Today is an important day for the Dalata team as we announce two significant developments for the Group. Edinburgh has long been a target city for us to locate our brands and we are delighted to have secured such a prestigious building in the centre of the city. This will be our third hotel in Scotland.
“We are also delighted to have secured our first Clayton hotel in Amsterdam. In the year to date, we have announced four new opportunities in three of the strongest city hotel markets in Europe – London, Amsterdam and Edinburgh. We will continue to seek out further opportunities in our target markets.”
Shane Casserly, corporate development director at Dalata, added: “Edinburgh is one of the top performing hotel markets in Europe and we are delighted to secure a development site in such a prestigious location. Our development team has extensive experience and history in delivering complex projects, we look forward to collaborating with Edinburgh authorities, to deliver a flagship Clayton hotel with zero onsite operational carbon by mid-2026.”
