UK:Manchester’s Gateway House – also known as the ‘Lazy S’ – has opened today as a Staycity Aparthotel, creating 50 new jobs.
The building, which sits alongside Piccadilly Station, was built in the 1960s as offices and retail space but has remained empty since 2010. Staycity Aparthotels has signed a 25-year lease on the building, which is owned by LaSalle Investment Management, and will occupy all seven floors with retail space remaining underneath.
Staycity Manchester Piccadilly offers 182 serviced apartments made up of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units each with an open-plan sitting room, kitchen and dining area and en-suite bathroom. Additional facilities include a café, lounge area, gym, car park for 56 vehicles and a 24-hour reception service as well as four separate meeting rooms.
“This is an important opening for Staycity as the building is a well-known landmark in Manchester – the first sight of the city visitors have when they arrive by train to Manchester Piccadilly. We are delighted to be part of the regeneration of this unusual and striking building,” said Staycity Aparthotels CEO Tom Walsh. “Our apartments offer guests a freedom that they don’t get from a hotel. Business and leisure travellers either on short or long-stays are discovering the more home-from-home feel of an aparthotel, where they are free to cook their own food when they want and have the space to relax, work or meet colleagues or friends,” added Walsh.
Staycity operates more than 3,000 apartments across 10 European cities including Birmingham, Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Paris, Lyon and Marseille. The company intends to grow to 15,000 apartments by 2022.</p
