Le Meridien Piccadilly Goes up For Sale
LONDON, UK, October 31, 2008. London's iconic Le M'eridien hotel in Piccadilly is being put up for sale with an estimated price tag of about lb90 million, as part of the sell-off of Lehman Brothers assets.
The 267-room hotel will continue to operate as Le M'eridien. It is being sold subject to a management agreement with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Starman Hotels, a hotel investment joint venture between Lehman and Starwood Capital, is appointing advisory firm Molinaro Koger to find a buyer for the grade II-listed leasehold property.
The Piccadilly hotel reported turnover of lb23.7 million in 2007, generating a net operating income of lb5.1 million. Its recent performance has seen occupancy hit 87 per cent, with an average room rate of lb213.
"Despite the financial uncertainty, there is a great deal of interest in this property, which is in a particularly coveted location," said Eric Kudlak, managing director Europe, of real estate broker Molinaro Koger.
"While perceived as one of the world's leading destinations, London presents investors with extremely high barriers to entry.
"Lack of potential development land limits the opportunity to enter the central London market and conversion opportunities are rare and usually demand major capital improvements."
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