Member Article

Southwark’s hotel dearth could finally be relenting after Frogmore’s £14m financing deal

Real estate investment manager, Frogmore, is to push on with its plans for a new hotel development in Southwark after it secured a £14.4m loan to acquire the Ufford Street site.

The investment business has submitted planning permission to develop a hotel on the site which sits adjacent to LeSoCo College and lies within walking distance of some of London’s biggest tourist attractions.

Frogmore, which owns assets including The Notting Hill Gate Estate and Stratford Shopping Centre, is hoping to develop a 275 bedroom hotel on the site and capitalise on the high tourist footfall in the area for attractions including the London Eye, the London Dungeon and the Old Vic, as well as a number of Michelin star restaurants.

Jo Allen, Chief Executive of Frogmore, explained that the area has experienced a shortage of available rooms in recent years, unlike neighbouring Waterloo which is well served by chains and upmarket hotels.

She said: “Southwark has been experiencing a shortage in hotel room supply for several years. In Kensington and Chelsea, there are three times as many hotel rooms. In Westminster, there are more than seven times.

“Our hope is that we can secure planning permission to build a hotel here and help fill this gap with a new 275 bedroom hotel on the site.”

Funding for the development effort has come from OakNorth, who provided the eight-figure loan to support the acquisition of the cleared site and the subsequent planning application.

Ben Barbanel, Head of Debt Finance and Damien Hughes, Property Finance Director at OakNorth Bank, commented: “We’re very proud to have been selected by Frogmore for this deal – the business has an incredibly strong track-record spanning more than five decades.

“Frogmore’s last project in the hotel space – the South Place Hotel – was a huge success and we have no doubt that this one will be too. We look forward to working with Frogmore on future projects and hopefully celebrating their planning permission approval very soon.”