N. Ireland: The pre-let of a 175-bed aparthotel on Queen Street in Belfast has been signed by room2 hometels, backed by the Lamington Group.
The nine storey aparthotel will be developed by Oakland Holdings. It will include food and beverage facilities on the ground floor, and meeting and conference facilities on the first floor.
The 175 units will range in size from 21 square metres to 25 square metres, with some units between 29-37 square metres.
Robert Godwin, managing director of the Lamington Group, said: “We are delighted to be expanding and introducing our concept to the Belfast market which is maturing and changing at a very fast pace. This development ticked all our boxes in terms of its location, its modern and contemporary design and its turn-key specification. It also provides us with an opportunity to work alongside one of the most progressive developers (Oakland Holdings) in Belfast.”
Guy Hollis of Oakland Holdings added: “We are delighted to have secured room2 hometels as our tenant. The Lamington Group were a perfect fit for the development as we were able to accommodate their high-end, design led specifications and provide them with the necessary flexibility while at the same time securing a strong and institutionally accepted covenant at a market rent.”
Property agents CBRE Hotels and solicitors A&L Goodbody acted for Oakland Holdings in the transaction.
John Ryan, director of Hotels at CBRE, said: “The location and design detail of the development instantly appealed to a wide variety of hotel and aparthotel operators seeking opportunities within the popular and expanding Belfast tourist market. The aparthotel is approximately 300 metres from Belfast City Hall at Donegall Square and is within the prime retail area of the city close to both Castlecourt Shopping Centre and Victoria Square Shopping Centre. In addition, theaparthotel is convenient to a host of tourist attractions and to the main entertainment areas of Belfast, including the Cathedral Quarter.”
Construction of the aparthotel is due to start soon, with an anticipated completion date in Q3 of 2021. </p
