Dominvs secures £68.5m towards two hotels in London and Oxford

Real estate development and investment group Dominvs has secured £68.5m of funding from Coutts and Clydesdale Bank towards two hotels in London and Oxford.

Coutts has put £48m towards the development of a Hampton by Hilton hotel in London’s Aldgate, while a £20.5m investment loan from Clydesdale Bank will refinance the company’s Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Oxford.

The hotel at 12-20 Osborn Street in Aldgate, formerly the Arbor City hotel, was purchased by Dominvs Group in October 2018 and planning was granted for a larger hotel scheme during the fourth quarter of 2018. The £48m of funding from Coutts covers the refinance of the original acquisition loan for the site and allows for the development of the new 118,000 sq ft, 278-bedroom Hampton by Hilton London City hotel, which is scheduled to complete June 2023.

The new five-storey hotel will comprise the refurbishment of the existing hotel plus a new-build extension, with the construction undertaken by contractor McAleer & Rushe. It will also have meeting, dining and events space including a cinema room and large function room.

Meanwhile, the 151-bedroom Courtyard by Marriott Oxford City Centre hotel (pictured) was completed in July 2019, with an 11-room extension opened in January 2020.

The new investment of £20.5m from Clydesdale Bank refinances an incumbent loan that funded the development of the building. The site was purchased by Dominvs Group in October 2014 and was formerly the headquarters of Cooper Callas, a kitchen and bathroom distributor.

Preeptal Ahluwalia, director at Dominvs Group, said: “It is excellent to see confidence in the hotel industry returning and these two hotels are well-placed to benefit from the gradual return of both domestic and overseas visitors to London and Oxford, two of the UK’s most popular tourist and business trip hotspots and destinations of increasing hotel need.”

Dominvs Group is a real estate-led group founded in 2011 and privately owned by the Ahluwalia family.