grosvenor house

Grosvenor House Sold To Indian Billionaire

At the start of 2010 we heard that the Royal Bank of Scotland was interested in selling London's Grosvenor House, now as the year closes it appears that the luxury Mayfair hotel is finally getting new owners. The 494-room hotel, one of London's largest five-star hotels, has been bought by a conglomerate, Sahara India Pariwar, owned by Indian billionaire Subrata Roy. Earlier in the year it was predicted that the hotel could sell for between £600m and £700 million but it went for £470 million. The five-star hotel opened in 1929 and became a JW Marriott Hotel in September 2008 after a major restoration.

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Will London's Grosvenor House Become Luxury Residences?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

In January, we mentioned that London's Grosvenor House, a five-star hotel is owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, would be heading for sale. Now it looks like there might be a potential buyer. The Candy brothers, famous for their ultra-luxury developments including the luxurious One Hyde Park, may enter the bidding. The London Times reports that the Royal Bank of Scotland is looking for a payday of more than £500 million. The article has the designing duo in partnership with an Asian financial backer in a plan that would including buying an apartment block next door to Grosvenor House to create one large luxury development.

The brothers Candy would be getting a property with a lot of history. The building was once one of the largest private houses in Mayfair and the site was the home of the Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family. More recently the hotel's great room has been used for awards ceremonies and luxurious private functions.

Brothers Nicholas and Christian Candy made news here in the States a couple of weeks back when they faced foreclosure on the site of the former Robinsons-May on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. They had paid $500 million for the property in 2007 and had plans to create condos and a hotel. The property went back to lenders. it is expected that the property will be sold later but will likely not bring in nearly as much money.

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London's Grosvenor House To Be Sold

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Real Estate Developments

Last month we heard that the Royal Bank of Scotland was looking to unload some art but the bank may be selling an even more valuable asset, the Grosvenor House hotel in London. The Grosvenor House is operated by Marriott and is the setting for some of the UK's biggest award ceremonies, is set to be put up for sale. The five-star hotel opened in 1929 and became a JW Marriott Hotel in September 2008 after a major restoration.

The hotel could sell for between £600m and £700 million. The Telegraph reports that that property agent CBRE is being lined up to handle the sale and it could hit the market this month. The question of course is who's buying? Travel and tourism is still sluggish and RBS has tried to sell the hotel several times before, most notably to several Middle Eastern investors. Breaking Travel News says that London commercial property has been on the rise in recent months which means that for RBS is might be the right time to test the waters once again.

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Grosvenor House Antiques Fair Shuts Down

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

The Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair recently celebrated its 75th anniversary but it appears that the recent week-long event was a swan song. The British Antique Dealers' Association has said the event will close because the fair is no longer financially viable. The event is held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London's Park Lane. This year more than 90 dealers exhibited works ranging from medieval sculpture to contemporary photographs. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall attended the Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair Charity Gala on June 11.

To put on the event the Grosvenor House Hotel had to close down access to its Great Room for most of the month of June in order to get the room ready for the exhibits. The cost of the loss of revenue plus the increasing price of insurance and staging fees weighed down the fair budget. Also this fair, like many other art and antiques fairs, has suffered a lack of corporate sponsorship this year. As companies trim their budgets, sponsorships of the arts are often cut out.

The Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair began in 1934 as a way of generating interest in art and antiques during the Great Depression. Over the years, the fair's popular gala opening event has been attended by royalty and celebrities. This year's fair was run under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra.

[via Bloomberg]

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