August 2021 - Travelodge Property Development

London Manor House – Mixed-Use Development

London Manor House

8-Storey, 143-room Travelodge Plus hotel, opened in July 2021 as part of a mixed-use, new development, including a Co-Op Convenience Store, a Coffee Shop and a Hostel.

In order to provide our customers with the best hotel locations, new Travelodge hotels often form part of mixed-use developments.

Travelodge is the most flexible hotel operator in the UK and the majority of our new hotels form part of new-build, mixed-use projects, above or alongside other complementary uses, such as retail, food & beverage, coffee shops, drive-thrus, health & fitness, doctor’s surgeries, supermarkets, offices and even residential.

Where ground floor units can be let at significant rents, we will move our reception, back-of-house accommodation and (if included) our Bar Cafe to first floor (or higher) level, with a small entrance and lift lobby at ground floor level. This enables a mixed-use development to happen, increasing the overall rental income from the project and, therefore, the end investment value. An end investment with diverse income is also often attractive to investors.

Over the last 20 years, we have opened hundreds of new hotels forming part of mixed-use schemes and our leasehold model is ideally-suited to allow Travelodge to form part of these projects. We have developed a standard Lease of Part that is institutionally-acceptable and which caters for the operational issues that must be accounted for where we are sharing occupation with other users.

Issues to be considered for mixed-use projects include servicing arrangements, acoustic specification and noise attenuation, hours of operation, safety and security, repairing and insuring obligations, the interface between different operations and the consequential location of our entrance lobby, fire strategy, customer access arrangements, car parking provision (both shared and demised) and the possibility of shared service cores for escape purposes. Our team has many years’ experience in considering these matters and working closely with developers’ teams to ensure that successful development are delivered on time, on budget and defect free.

We take a flexible approach to car parking, particularly in urban locations. In town and city centres we do not normally require on-site parking, provided that public parking is available on a 24 hour basis, at reasonable cost, and within a safe and short walking distance.

Opened in July 2021, our London Manor House Travelodge Plus hotel is a great example of a new, bespoke, mixed-use development.

New Development
8-Storey hotel
143 Bedrooms
Site also includes convenience store and coffee shop

Within easy reach of London’s financial centre and the West End and adjoining the open spaces of Finsbury Park and situated at the junction of two major roads and above Manor House tube station on the Piccadilly Line, the location was picked to offer the ideal spot for leisure or business customers to arrive by road or rail, for a convenient stay in London.

Given the hotel’s location immediately adjacent to Manor House London Underground station, we have no customer parking at this property.

The specific project issues that we had to contend with at this site included the security and fire escape strategies because of the interface between the Travelodge and the immediately adjoining hostel, convenience store, and coffee shop.

The completed development has been retained by the developer, who financed the venture with one of the UK’s leading lenders. In order to maximise the development value and amenity, the hotel sits with a number of complementary uses that, together, created a viable redevelopment package.

The development scheme was first planned between the developer and Travelodge in 2015, with a start on site in 2018 following resolution of Town Planning and site assembly.

The hotel is let on a xx-year lease term, whilst the lease to the Co-Op is for xx years; providing the developer landlord with an excellent, long-term income stream.

Views from the bedrooms into Finsbury Park

For more information about this transaction, please contact Alan Oliver, our Development Manager for this deal, on 07825 982 759.

Some other examples of mixed-use projects are shown below:

**Lakeside Thurrock – opened July 2017. New build hotel over restaurant adjacent to Lakeside Shopping Centre.**

Faringdon Oxford – opened 2021. A new-build, 74-room Travelodge above a new Home Bargains ground floor store

Dont miss out on any Travelodge news

CASE STUDY: Conversion from another hotel brand to a new Travelodge

Travelodge Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Travelodge’s new openings programme is complemented by the selective acquisition of existing hotels (Going Concerns) that fit the company’s locational and branding criteria. In the last five years we have acquired 500 rooms through converting other brands’ purpose-built hotels across the UK. Our experienced team is able to assess the suitability of any hotel through discreet inspection and conduct all required due diligence in conjunction with the current owners/operators, to deliver a smooth and satisfactory outcome for all parties.

This has seen us successfully acquire both independently-branded hotels as well as hotels trading with recognised brands, such as Holiday Inn Express, Ramada Encore and Days Inn. These acquisitions mean we can open a new hotel in a target location without the need for any lengthy planning applications and the new Travelodge is open and trading without adding to the overall bedstock in the local market. Recent examples include Days Inn Haverhill (2016), Ramada Encore Milton Keynes (2016), Ramada Encore Chatham Maritime (2015) and Holiday Inn Express Liverpool John Lennon Airport (2017).

Going Concerns also have the attraction of being delivered to the business without the lead time of a new development. In common with Travelodge’s growth strategy, all of them are dealt with under our standard leasehold model, with an occupational, rack-rented lease being granted to Travelodge, using our institutionally-acceptable standard lease.

The majority of these deals are structured so that the Landlord (existing or new) funds the required conversion works, with Travelodge’s team being responsible for these works.

Outside of London, we will consider any purpose-built hotel for conversion to our brand. Our objectives are for a finished Travelodge that accords with our brand standards in terms of room sizes and layouts, decor, food and beverage provision, the “look and feel” of a Travelodge and parking provision. The outcome of this approach has seen us deliver conversion projects that are consistent with new Travelodge specifications and thus deliver a better customer experience as a result.

In Central London, we are prepared to consider a more flexible approach to projects and will review any opportunities for a conversion to a Travelodge, where more than 40 bedrooms are presently traded.

Our hotel at Liverpool John Lennon Airport is a good recent example of a going concern conversion to a new Travelodge.

Going Concern
Previously operated by Peel Land & Property under a franchise agreement and trading as Holiday Inn Express Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
100 Bedrooms
Bar Cafe, three meeting rooms and on-site car parking

Travelodge agreed an off-market deal to take a new, 25-year lease of the Holiday Inn Express hotel at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. The hotel was owned and operated by Peel under a franchise agreement with Intercontinental Hotel Group, that was terminated on handover of the property to Travelodge.

The hotel’s employees transferred under the TUPE Regulations to Travelodge and we then executed a rolling, floor-by-floor conversion of the property to Travelodge brand standards. The works were carried out by our partnering contractor, Troy Group, in line with a detailed scope of works that we produced following surveys of the hotel. The works were completed within 12 weeks of us taking possession of the property and the cost of £1.6M was funded by Peel as part of the transaction.

Situated adjacent to Speke Retail Park and in close proximity to the airport, the location was our tenth hotel in Merseyside and, as it was a conversion of an existing going concern, no additional rooms were added to the overall roomstock in the local area room supply.

The created investment was forward sold by Peel to a private investor, for a sum in excess of £7.5M, reflecting a 5.25% net initial yield.

For further information about this transaction of any other potential going concern deals throughout the UK please contact our Development Managers John Hardy, Jeff Hocking or Nick Howard. Contact details below:

John Hardy – 07767 768 949

Jeff Hocking – 07876 675 364

Nick Howard – 07825 559 787

The simple matrix below should be taken as a guide of Travelodge’s positioning on five key areas that we assess immediately in considering a potential Going Concern conversion. Whilst we encourage anyone with a potential opportunity to get in touch, this may help you in acquiring a basic understanding of what we are looking for.

Travelodge’s positioning on five key areas that we assess immediately in considering a potential Going Concern conversion

Preferred

No Single Rooms
Demised on site parking
Double rooms have an overall size of > 15 sq.m including bathroom
No function rooms for meeting/wedding hire
No wet heating system

Acceptable

20% of overall mis if the rooms are larger than 9.6 sq.m each
Shared parking with co-user or easy options nearby
Shower rooms are equally acceptable
Function Rooms that are capable of conversion to additional rooms if demand calls for it or the overall location merits it at the outset.
A wet heating system that is removable at an economic cost

Unacceptable

More than 20% overall mix
Zero parking options available (Unless town or city centre location)
Over 20% of room stock is below 15 sq.m in size.
Function Rooms that are incapable of conversion and lead to a difficult split of demise if not required by Travelodge
A wet heating system that cannot be removed from the building without incurring significant cost and disruption

Working in partnership with local councils

The opening of our Newark hotel in Nottinghamshire earlier this year was Travelodge’s 23rd local council partnership deal.

Newark and Sherwood District Council was seeking the redevelopment of the formerly dilapidated Robin Hood Hotel in Newark town centre for a number of years. Under a unique lease wrapper deal with Travelodge and the developer MF Strawson– the District Council was able to explore the opportunity of turning the run down brownfield site into a new and attractive building which would attract visitors to the area.

Lease wrapper deals which provide councils with annual profit rents and business rates income are becoming an increasingly-attractive option for local authorities. Having already opened new hotels in Rhyl, Dudley and London Central Elephant & Castle, Travelodge is currently working with several other councils across the country to deliver new hotels via lease-wrapper deals, including Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Three Rivers District Council and Barking and Dagenham Borough Council.

New hotels bring investment, jobs and visitors to a town or city centre and we have worked in partnership with councils across the country to open new Travelodge hotels in Ashford, Aylesbury, Bicester, Bolton, Dudley, Eastleigh, Edinburgh, Faringdon, Leicester, Lincoln, London Central Elephant & Castle, London Dagenham, Newark, Redhill, Rhyl, Sittingbourne, Solihull, Telford and Thetford.

If you would like to find out more about how we can deliver projects in partnership with Local Authorities, then contact our Development Manager for the region in which the opportunity is. Contact details can be found via our target requirements map.

Travelodge comes to Sandwich and opens the town’s first branded hotel

The 2000-year old town of Sandwich recently got its first branded hotel when Travelodge opened its latest hotel at Discovery Park.

To mark this milestone, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at Sandwich Travelodge where the Chairman of Dover District Council, Cllr Mike Conolly and the Mayor of Sandwich, Cllr Paul Graeme, joined our Travelodge Chief Property & Development Officer, Steve Bennett, to officially open the hotel.

Sandwich Travelodge is a 75-room hotel which features an on-site restaurant called the Bar Cafe and on-site car-parking. It represents a multi-million investment in the region and has created 18 new jobs within the community. This is Travelodge’s 593^rd hotel and its 17^th property in Kent. The hotel is located close to the nearby Royal St George’s Golf Club, which recently hosted The Open 2021.

At the opening event, we also announced that Kent is a top Staycation destination, but there still remains a desperate need for good quality, low cost accommodation in the county and we want to fill this growing gap.

Therefore, we are actively looking for a further nine hotel sites across the county. This expansion will represent an approximate investment of £50M and will create around 200 new jobs. Our desired sites include: Bluewater, Canterbury, Dartford, Folkestone, Hearne Bay, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Swanley and Tonbridge.

The Chairman of Dover District Council, Cllr Mike Conolly (left), Travelodge Property Director, Steve Bennett (centre) and The Right Worshipful Mayor of Sandwich, Cllr Paul Graeme MBE (right) on ribbon cutting duties at the official opening of Sandwich Travelodge.

Travelodge Opportunities

For a full list of available opportunities with Travelodge, view our interactive map

View New Developments

London Elephant and Castle – Mixed-use tower with residential

Travelodge London Central Elephant and Castle

Travelodge London Elephant & Castle is a flagship Travelodge Plus hotel that opened on Monday 16th August 2021. The scheme comprised a brand new, 22-storey, architect-designed development called “The Ceramic Building,” located on the A3 Newington Causeway, with a high profile frontage to the London Overground railway line into Blackfriars station and The City. Travelodge occupies the majority of the ground floor and first ten storeys of the new development, with a mix of private and affordable residential apartments occupying the 11 upper floors.

The 140-room hotel includes a Bar Cafe offer on the ground floor and an outdoor piazza, with bespoke wooden seating, has been created for the benefit of the development. The hotel boasts some of the finest views in our Estate, with the room designs including floor to ceiling windows, enabling guests to enjoy a panoramic vista over the Central London skyline.

Located adjacent to Southwark Playhouse and opposite the renowned Mercato Metropolitano street food and drink market, this location is also well-placed for a n easy stroll up to Borough Market, just half a mile to the north. Numerous tube and rail connections are available at Elephant & Castle, within three minutes’ walk, with Northern and Bakerloo lines providing direct, fast services into The City, the West End and to Euston, Kings Cross, Paddington, London Bridge and Waterloo mainline stations and direct overground services to Wimbledon and Sevenoaks. Borough tube station is within easy reach of the hotel too.

The site was originally occupied by a car parts workshop and store. It was acquired for development by a London-based high net worth private investor, who proposed a mixed-use, high density development of the site in line with emerging LB Southwark planning policy, to assist in the regeneration of the Elephant & Castle area.

The site was originally under offer to a competitor, but we managed to agree terms, on a conditional basis, for a new, 25-year lease of the completed hotel to Travelodge. We worked extensively with the developer on the non-standard floor plans to ensure that the room layouts could work with our furniture options.

The end result is a flagship, new build, Travelodge Plus hotel with some truly unique room layouts, with all of the en suite bathrooms hand built rather than our usual modular design. It is also our second brand new hotel featuring a full sprinkler system, due to the height of the building. Site works commenced in May 2018 and PC was achieved in August 2021 following some minor delays due to C-19 affecting programme and materials.

The created hotel investment has been forward sold to a Local Authority on a pension fund lease arrangement, with the terms subject to a NDA.

Further information regarding this transaction can be obtained from John Hardy, our Development Manager for this deal, who can be contacted on 07767 768 949.

St Albans – Redevelopment of Redundant High Street Retail

St Albans

The High Street throughout the UK is in a state of major flux, with a boom in online retailing fundamentally changing shopping habits and causing the demise of many major retail chains and many more to close numerous shops. This is leaving a huge amount of vacant space, often in excellent, prime town and city centre locations.

In each target area, where Travelodge wishes to open a new hotel, we assess the optimal location to do so for our customers. In some places, an edge-of-centre or an out-of-town location will be best, providing hotels that are easy to find and access, with good on-site parking and well-located for the nearby demand drivers. However, in towns and cities that attract a significant number of leisure and business visitors to their centres, a new Travelodge in the heart of these towns is often our preference.

We have recently taken advantage of the changing shape of the High Street to open new Travelodges in prime locations in the historic centres of Winchester, occupying the site of the former Next unit, and St Albans, occupying the site of the former BHS store.

Town Centre Department Store Redevelopment
Previously owned by Arcadia and formerly trading as BHS St Albans
Scheme comprised demolition of former department store and construction of new hotel, with two ground floor units for retail/bar/restaurant use
Travelodge PLUS with Bar Cafe
No on site car parking. MSCP immediately behind hotel

The St Albans deal is a great example of a town centre redevelopment of a closed department store, with a pre-let to Travelodge and a ground floor unit to Youngs, which enabled a forward sale of the created investment to a pension fund.

This new build, 130-room Travelodge Plus hotel, with Bar Cafe and Super Rooms, opened at Easter 2021 and is located in the prime, central retail pitch in the heart of this historic Cathedral City. Travelodge St Albans fulfils a long-standing new opening requirement for the company and is a great location for both leisure and business customers, with its proximity to the M25, excellent central retail and food and beverage amenities and the city’s fast, direct rail connections to Central London.

The development comprises a Travelodge on a brand new, 35-year lease term, that includes a ground floor Bar Cafe and a dedicated floor of Super Rooms. Watch the video below to take a virtual tour of the new hotel to see the new room styles on offer.

The development also includes a 6,000 sq.ft unit on the ground floor that has been let on a 20-year lease to Young’s Brewery as a brand new gastropub called “Albans Well”. The new pub opened for trading in May 2021 and includes a 62-cover outdoor terrace. The remaining ground floor unit is now under offer to a national pizza restaurant operator. Discounted customer parking is available at the adjacent NCP car park that is open 24/7.

The development was delivered by Reef Estates, who acquired the property from Arcadia and then ran the lengthy planning process with the Local Planning Authority. Following the grant of planning consent, London Pension Fund Authority, managed by Knight Frank Investment Management (KFIM), then forward funded the development of the site and paid a total of £24.425 million for the completed asset, reflecting a blended net initial yield of 4.38%.

For more information about this transaction, please speak to John Hardy, our Development Manager for this transaction, on 07767 768 949.

Our Winchester hotel is another great example of a redevelopment of High Street retail, with the former Next department store being demolished and turned into a new Travelodge hotel above new ground floor retail:

Before – Former Next unit Winchester High Street

NEWS: Travelodge serves up new flagship hotel in Wimbledon

Work is now well underway on our new 177-room Travelodge hotel in Wimbledon.

Situated just 200 metres away from Wimbledon Station, our Wimbledon Hartfield Road Travelodge will be a flagship development in the heart of this south London district.

Designed in the group’s signature Travelodge PLUS chic’ format it will feature 34 super rooms and an accompanying bar café. It is due to complete in June 2022 and once finished will be one of Travelodge’s largest and most impressive developments to date.

The hotel was only made possible by a unique funding arrangement between the investor LIM, the local authority Three Rivers district Council and Travelodge. It is the latest in a long line of local authority deals Travelodge has been involved in recently which provide councils a chance to redevelop sites at minimal cost to the taxpayer, while at the same time returning attractive yields over long term leases.

Dont miss out on any Travelodge news

NEWS: Pandemic fails to derail Docklands deal

A deal has now been reached for work to begin on a new 350 room Travelodge hotel in Docklands, London.

The Travelodge Plus hotel will see Travelodge’s current Docklands hotel replaced by a new flagship development, which will be one of the group’s biggest ever projects to date.

The complex scheme involved knocking down the current hotel, purchase of an alternative site by an investor while at the same time getting planning permission approval from the local authority for a new hotel and data centre.

Such complexities would pose an issue for any project, but it proved especially tricky trying to get the deal over the line during a global pandemic, when a number of similar projects in London were being put on pause due to uncertainty in the market.

It was only through the hard work and commitment of all interested parties including Japanese investors, Barking and Dagenham Council and Travelodge that a successful lease wrapper deal was able to be reached.

Work on site has now begun and is expected to finish in September 2022.

Dont miss out on any Travelodge news

NEWS: London Calling

Travelodge has bought two more of its chic brand Travelodge Plus hotels to London.

London Manor House Travelodge is a 143 room hotel set over nine floors with a bar café area on the ground floor. It features 33 Super Rooms – Travelodge’s premium style rooms designed with the business traveller in mind.

The hotel is opposite Manor House tube station in the Hackney Borough of London. It provides excellent transport links to central London and is within close proximity to London Metropolitan University and the football stadiums of Arsenal and Tottenham, making it ideal for business and leisure customers alike.

The hotel represents a multi-million pound investment for third party investors and has created 27 new jobs within the area.

Meanwhile London Elephant & Castle Travelodge also recently opened its doors in the heart of the city.

Situated close to Elephant & Castle underground and overground stations, the hotel is set over 11 floors of a 24 storey building with rooms on either side offering a unique bird’s eye view of London. Travelodge will take up 11 floors of the building with residential properties above and retail units on the ground floor of the development.

The 140 room hotel has 36 Super Rooms and represents a multi-million pound investment for third party investors. It has created 35 new jobs within the area.

Travelodge Plus hotels have been thoughtfully designed with both business and leisure travellers in mind. They provide added style and comfort with added luxuries such as contemporary décor, blackout curtains and signature king size Travelodge Dreamer™ bed for a restful night’s sleep, a 32″ Samsung Freeview TV and plenty of power throughout with desk and bedside USB charging points.

Super Rooms go that bit further with an in room coffee machine, 3 jet shower, iron and ironing board, armchair and larger desk to work at with USB charging points.

Dont miss out on any Travelodge news

NEWS: Travelodge comes to Sittingbourne

Today, Travelodge, the UK’s first budget hotel chain celebrates 20 years of trading in Kent, by officially opening its first hotel in Sittingbourne.

Sittingbourne Travelodge is the company’s 589^th hotel and its 16^th property in Kent. The purpose built hotel is located in the heart of the town centre, at Bourne Place leisure quarter (which is part of the ‘Spirit of Sittingbourne’ £326m regeneration programme).

The hotel represents a multimillion investment for Swale Borough Council and has created 15 new jobs within the community.

Sittingbourne Travelodge features 63-rooms which include a selection of family, double and accessible rooms. The rooms have been designed by Travelodge business and leisure customers and the décor features a sleep inducing colour palette, introduced by a chronotherapy expert. The featured walls are painted a tranquil blue, as research shows our body clock is programmed to relate the colour blue to the hours of darkness, so our metabolism slows down making us feel relaxed and sleepy.

The hero in all rooms is the bespoke luxurious king-size Travelodge Dreamer bed which has been especially commissioned by Sleepeezee who hold a Royal Warrant and make beds for Prince Charles. The Travelodge Dreamer Bed boasts a 952 pocket sprung mattress and is designed to follow the body’s natural contour providing the correct amount of support and comfort, ensuring a great night’s sleep. The bed sits within a mood lighting surround with integrated bedside shelves featuring individual charging ports to avoid bedtime arguments about charging devices.

The rooms also include an en-suite bathroom with power shower, a personalised comfort cooling system – so that you can regulate the temperature of your room, a 32 inch Freeview TV, free in-room tea & coffee making facilities and Wifi.

In addition all family rooms include two individual single beds for children.

Rooms at Sittingbourne Travelodge are available from £29 and can booked at www.travelodge.co.uk

Michael Johnstone, Travelodge, District Manager for Kent said:

“We are delighted to celebrate 20 years of trading in Kent by opening our first hotel in Sittingbourne which is the company’s 589^th Travelodge. Over the last three decades, Travelodge has become symbolic for being the low cost choice for business and leisure travellers visiting the area and with opening of Sittingbourne Travelodge we now operate 16 hotels across the county.”

“Sittingbourne Travelodge is located in the heart of the town centre by the train station and will certainly be a magnet to attract new visitors to the area. This is great news for the local economy too, as our research shows customers will spend double their room rate during their stay with local businesses which equates to an annual boost of £2 million for the local economy.”

Cllr Roger Truelove, Leader of Swale Borough council, said:

“Having such a recognisable brand as Travelodge opening in Sittingbourne is a real boost for the town. Not only are they creating jobs for local people, but they are helping attract visitors into the town, supporting other local businesses.”

Rob Sloper, spokesperson for the Spirit of Sittingbourne said:

“We are delighted to see the Travelodge in Sittingbourne town centre open to the public. Visitors to the town are now able to stay over in a well-recognised national chain hotel, immediately opposite the train station, with great connectivity in and around the wider area. The new hotel marks the first in a series of openings in the Bourne Place leisure quarter, as our vision of a regenerated, destination town, comes to fruition.”

Sittingbourne Travelodge is being managed by Susan Ezzi who joined the company nine years ago as a receptionist. Suzan is one of thousands of Travelodge employees who have successfully climbed the career ladder from an entry level position into management.

Suzan joined the company in 2011 as a receptionist at Canterbury Chaucer Central Travelodge and within two years she successfully secured a place on the in-house management programme called Aspire. Within 12 months, Suzan graduated into a management position and got her first management role as an Assistant Manager in Maidstone Travelodge in 2014 and moved into a hotel manager position at Canterbury Whitstable Travelodge.

Suzan received over 1,500 applications for the 15 positions she advertised to help create her new team at the Sittingbourne Travelodge hotel. She was so overwhelmed by the high calibre of applications she received that she recruited her strong team in just one week.

Susan Ezzi, Hotel Manager, Sittingbourne Travelodge said:

“I never imagined when I started with Travelodge as a receptionist that one day I would be managing a brand new hotel which is also the town’s first Travelodge. It’s certainly a dream come true.”

“I am very proud to have built a fantastic team who are as passionate as me about delivering great customer service. I am looking forward to developing my team and giving them the same opportunities that I was given so that they can successfully climb the career ladder and become hotel manager of the future. “

“Our new hotel has got off to a flying start and with room rates starting from £29 we are set for a very busy year ahead.”

London Manor House

8-Storey, 143-room Travelodge Plus hotel, opened in July 2021 as part of a mixed-use, new development, including a Co-Op Convenience Store, a Coffee Shop and a Hostel.

Dont miss out on any Travelodge news

More Case Studies

Travelodge Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Travelodge’s positioning on five key areas that we assess immediately in considering a potential Going Concern conversion

Preferred

Acceptable

Unacceptable

Related Articles

Related Articles

Travelodge Opportunities

Related Articles

Related Articles

St Albans

Related Articles

Dont miss out on any Travelodge news

Related Articles

Dont miss out on any Travelodge news

Related Articles

Dont miss out on any Travelodge news

Related Articles

Today, Travelodge, the UK’s first budget hotel chain celebrates 20 years of trading in Kent, by officially opening its first hotel in Sittingbourne.

Dont miss out on any Travelodge news

Related Articles