AN office block in a city centre has been sold with plans to turn it into a new hotel.
The Edinburgh offices in St Andrew Square, designed by Basil Spence and Partners as the new head office of the Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society in 1962, have been acquired as part of a joint venture, The Herald reports.
The Point A hotel brand is owned and operated by a joint venture company comprising Tristan Capital Partners and Queensway Group.
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It has now secured investment of more than £40 million to fund both the recent building purchase as well as the cost of renovating and converting the building into a 206 bedroom Point A hotel.
As both owner and operator, the joint venture company will need to recruit a team of more than 50 personnel to manage the day-to-day operation.
Point A, which has submitted proposals to the City of Edinburgh Council with Maith Design, said it will retain key features of the internal layout of the building.
The hotel company said: “Already operating one Point A hotel in Edinburgh which sees high levels of guest occupancy and sustained high guest satisfaction with their experience, we are demonstrating our commitment to Edinburgh by opening our second hotel in the city in St Andrew Square.”
“Since opening in the summer of 2019, our first Point A Edinburgh Hotel has in just a short time been rated in the top third of all hotels in the city.
“It is worth noting that our staff satisfaction scores are some of the highest in the industry and we remain committed to training and development of our team in Edinburgh and across our hotels as an important part of our strategy.”
Point A also has a hotel in Morrison Street in the city and added: “The scope of the proposals looks to enhance the existing Grade A listed building.
“Externally the building will be retained and refurbished on the prominent elevations, with minor alterations to the Rose Street and Rose Street North Lane elevations.
“Due to the ongoing technical and structural investigations all stone cladding repairs shall be presented in separate applications to that of the main overall consents within this current application.
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“Services installations have been considered to neutralise visual impact and structural alterations have been designed to minimise impact to internal alterations.”
The joint venture company currently owns and operates 10 Point A hotels, seven based in London, two in Scotland and one in Ireland.
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