Singapore investor buys into city hotel
A SUBSIDIARY OF HIAP HOE HAS BOUGHT THE HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS TRAFFORD CITY FROM A JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN THREE FIRMS
SINGAPORE investors have bought a city hotel for £26m as international money pours into the Manchester hospitality sector.
A subsidiary of Hiap Hoe, the Singapore investment business, has bought the Holiday Inn Express, Trafford City from a joint venture between Topland, Marick Capital and Mill Lane Estates.
The 220-bedroom hotel opened in May. It is operated by Tower Management Limited in an arrangement which will continue under a management agreement on behalf of the new owners.
In a separate move, a Tameside firm is moving into the hotel development business.
Encouraged by demand from hotel users and investors, Bardsley Construction is expanding into the hotels market with the delivery of the second AC Hotel by Marriott in Greater Manchester. The family-owned firm secured the £15.5m contract with Axcel Hospitality to deliver the four-star hotel. The hotel is being constructed by Bardsley on a former surface car park bounded by Mason Street and Cable Street in Ancoats, north of the city centre, and is expected to open in early 2019. Rising to nine storeys, it will offer 172 rooms, gym, café, restaurant, bar and meeting/conference facilities. AC Hotels by Marriott, part of Marriott International, has more than 100 design-led hotels throughout Europe and the United States and made its debut in the UK with openings in Birmingham and Salford Quays last year. The hotel has been designed by architects Simpson Haugh & Partners. Ged Rooney, procurement director at Bardsley Construction, said: “It’s some years since Bardsley was involved in the construction of a hotel on this scale, so we see this prestigious con-
Demand for new hotels is buoyant Ged Rooney, procurement director, Bardsley Construction
tract with Axcel and AC Hotels as an expansion into a new market for us, and a natural extension to our extensive experience.
“Demand for new hotels is buoyant with the requirement for quality and affordable leisure accommodation rising in line with the world getting smaller thanks to ever improving transport links such as the ongoing expansion of routes at Manchester Airport.”