Green light for Leeds’ fourth Premier Inn
Whitbread, owner of the UK’s largest hotel brand, has received permission to convert Verity House in the South Bank area of the city into a 131-bed hotel.
Located on 6 Canal Wharf in Holbeck, the 44,000 sq ft former office building was acquired by Whitbread a year ago in a deal brokered by WSB acting for the hospitality company.
The vendor was advised by Commercial Property Partners.
This was followed by a planning application for the formerly at-risk building being submitted in May this year, before the signing of the S106 last week.
Close to Leeds Railway Station and the regeneration happening in and around the South Bank area, which has been shortlisted as one of the government’s recently announced ‘new towns’.
Once open, Verity House will be the fourth Premier Inn in the city centre, as a 143-bedroom location at Leeds Harewood Quarter is under contract as part of a council-led redevelopment.
Based on a mature occupancy of more than 80%, Whitbread expects more than 57,000 guests to stay at the Premier Inn at Verity House every year, generating an additional £5.5m in visitor expenditure – half of which is expected to be spent in Leeds city centre.
This latest investment in Leeds is part of Whitbread’s strategy of expanding its hotel network in the north of England, with the company searching for more than 20 new Premier Inn locations across the region.
Jill Anderson, acquisitions manager for Whitbread, said: “We’re seeing huge demand in the city and this wonderfully accessible location is sure to be incredibly popular for our business and leisure guests.
“Whitbread has a long and successful track record of converting office buildings into high-quality, successful Premier Inn hotels.
“By purchasing Verity House freehold last autumn, we demonstrated that Whitbread is unafraid to take on planning and development risk to convert former offices into hotels in locations that match our network plan requirements and meet the expectations of our guests for outstanding, easily accessible hotel locations.
“We’re actively looking for similar opportunities across the north of England as we continue to grow our hotel estate in the region.”
