An A-listed office block at a prime city centre site has been sold amid plans to turn it into a hotel.
The offices at 9-10 St Andrew Square, designed by Basil Spence and Partners as the new head office of the Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society in 1962, have been acquired in a joint venture.
Tristan Capital Partners’ latest opportunistic fund European Property Investors Special Opportunities 6 and Queensway have completed the purchase of the 63,195 sq ft office property from Patrizia Hanover Property Unit Trust.
The deal will mark the first add-on investment to the fund’s Point A Hotel platform, described as a budget-boutique brand, held in a joint venture with Queensway, subject to planning.
The transaction, the value of which was not disclosed, will expand the footprint of the platform to 12 locations across the UK and Ireland.
Tristan said the fund acquired a majority stake in the Point A platform in 2022, which at the time comprised a portfolio of 10 operating and one development in the UK and Ireland.
The latest acquisition in Edinburgh will see Queensway develop and deliver for the joint venture a Point A hotel.
St Andrew Square is a historically significant public square, centrally located in the city's New Town area.
The shareholders have committed significant additional equity to fund this phase of growth for the platform with a particular focus on strategic locations in London.
Kristian Smyth, managing director, investments at Tristan Capital Partners, said: “St. Andrew Square is a marquee location in one of the strongest hotel markets in Europe. We believe the addition of another Point A in the Scottish capital to complement our existing offer in Haymarket will be a positive for both our platform and the city of Edinburgh.
“Our stated ambition when we acquired the platform was to materially expand our hotel footprint in strategic locations and we are actively focused on delivering on this objective with substantial capital available to deploy.
“We have identified several London boroughs which are of particular interest and are engaged in dialogue with agents and owners of existing hotels or appropriate office assets suited to hotel conversion.”
Naushad Jivraj, Queensway chief executive, said: “We are thrilled to build on our existing partnership with Tristan Capital Partners’ fund and continue the expansion of the platform. St Andrew’s Square in Edinburgh is a prime city centre location with excellent economic and social activity.
“The acquired site will be redeveloped to provide consumers with a new budget boutique offering located in the heart of the city close to key attractions. “Under the management of Queensway, the Point A Hotels brand is continuing to develop a high quality product at great value, generating positive customer feedback resulting in strong occupancy levels.
“Our existing Point A Hotel in Edinburgh has been very well received by consumers and is one of the strongest performing hotels in our portfolio. We hope that this new project will provide much needed additional capacity for which we see significant customer demand.”
Simon West, fund manager at Patrizia, said: “On behalf of Patrizia Hanover PUT, we are very pleased to have completed on the sale of the St Andrews Sq. The disposal generates liquidity for the fund to focus its attentions on value adding decarbonisation projects in the remaining portfolio, delivering both ESG and performance benefits.”
EPISO 6 was advised by Brodies, Ogier, BCLP, Workman, Savills, Amicus and PwC. Patrizia was advised by JLL and Burness Paull.
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