Investors make move for city’s leisure sector
MANCHESTER’S HOTEL SECTOR IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST IN EUROPE, OUTPERFORMING MOST CITIES
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 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 contract with Axcel and AC Hotels as an expansion into a new market for us, and a natural extension to our extensive residential sector 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.” Research by PwC suggests that room rates – and average revenue per room – will rise by about 3 per cent during 2017, which is a powerful lure for investors. Manchester’s hotel sector is one of the strongest in Europe, outperforming most cities and providing investors with an alternative to London. Average occupancy is regularly over 80 per cent and the central area has 156 hotels providing 16,300 beds. This will grow in 2017 by another 1,333 beds and seven new hotels. Approaching half of hotel beds are run by national brands, slightly less by international brands, with the rest run by independent operators. Ged Rooney