Qbic Hotels London & Manchester Sold and Rebranded

Main Photo: The Qbic Manchester, to be rebranded Yotel

Date: October 2021

Name: Qbic London City – to become The Corner, London City; Qbic Manchester – to become a Yotel

Location: Aldgate, East London and Spinningfields, Manchester – both England, UK

Number of Keys: 183 and 261

Seller: Cerberus Capital Management bought the Qbic London in 2017, from London-based Bridges Fund Management who opened the hotel in 2013;

Buyer: Great Portland Estates – GPE, acquired the lease on the Qbic London; Tristan Capital Partners has acquired the Manchester property, which opened in May 2021. The hotel is the first asset for Tristan’s EPISO 5 Fund, was acquired alongside Hamilton Hotel Partners. The fund aims to deploy more than €500m over the next year.

London: The lease of the 183-bedroom eco-focused hotel was put up for sale earlier this year for an undisclosed price. The hotel opened in 2013 and was the second Qbic hotel to launch following the original in Amsterdam. The brand has since expanded to Brussels and Manchester.

Christie & Co received 75 signed NDAs and called for two rounds of bids before a final deal was completed in excess of the original guide price of £55m. RBH Hospitality Management has been appointed the new operational management team. New general manager Arun Kumar and the RBH team completed the rebrand in three months including the installation of self-service check-in stations. The group said the property’s green credentials would “continue to evolve”.

The new owners pride themselves on being London’s Greenest Hotel. They back up the claim by saying “Inside the rooms:”

• Recycling bins to separate plastic, paper and general waste.
• Sustainably sourced design in every room, featuring a unique all-in-one pod that includes the bed and bathroom.
• Organic toiletries.
• Hansgrohe Airdrop shower heads in the bathroom mix air with water, reducing the amount of water used by 25% per minute without affecting the shower’s water pressure.
• Super king-size mattresses from UK based Natural Mat – handcrafted, natural, organic and made from renewable and sustainable sources.
• Bottled filtered water is available in the rooms and in the restaurant, helping to eliminate the use of plastic throughout the hotel
• Furniture in rooms and around the hotel are re-purposed / re-used pieces, including desks made of reclaimed wood and lamps made using old hosepipes.
• Guests staying multiple nights who volunteer to not have their room cleaned will receive a £5 voucher to spend at the bar as our way of saying thank you for being part of our green effort.

and throughout the hotel:

• C02 emissions are 67% less than industry average – the same as 125 family car trips around the Equator!
• Water consumption is 41% less than other UK hotels. That’s the equivalent to four Olympic sized swimming pools.
• Electrical consumption is 8% less than industry standard – which is equivalent to boiling 321,745 kettles.
• All lighting is LED and energy efficient, and we have solar panels on the roof meaning our hotel runs on East London sunshine!
• Corridor lights are run on light saving sensory controls.
• The bar and kitchen strive to use local suppliers where possible.
• We have electric car charging points in our private gated car park.
• We recycle all plastic, paper and glass.
• Non-toxic cleaning products are chosen whenever possible

GPE are a FTSE 250 property investment and development company owning £2.5 billion of real estate in central London, mainly in the office, residential and retail space. Interestingly they have Mark Anderson, property & international MD at Whitbread’s Premier Inn on their board as a Non-Exec director.

Jeremy Jones, director and head of brokerage at Christie & Co, who led the sale, said: “The interest generated in the Qbic London City really took us by surprise, particularly considering the challenges the pandemic has created however, it’s not every day that you get such a sizeable leasehold asset come to market in the heart of the city that is free and clear of its current branding, so it was a unique opportunity.

“The multiple viewings and offers enabled us to leverage a great outcome for our clients, with the hotel selling for materially ahead of its guide price.” David Hart, chief executive of RBH said: “The takeover and rebrand of The Corner London City on a tight timetable is one of many exciting projects we’ve been delighted to work on this year and the uniqueness and vibrancy of the property is an excellent addition to our growing portfolio.

“The efficiency and determination of the entire team to execute a rebrand of this nature is testament to their fervour for getting back to what they know and love as quickly as possible – delivering exceptional hospitality.” RBH manages 13 properties in London, with two openings coming up this autumn: Gantry London, Curio Collection by Hilton and Westin London City.

Manchester: The 261-key, four-star hotel is located in Deansgate – one of the city’s oldest city centre thoroughfares. The asset opened in May 2021 following a three-year conversion from an office building. It is complemented by a state-of-the-art gym, which is currently occupied by Trib3, and has a contemporary F&B offering.

As part of the Fund’s business plan, the hotel will be rebranded to YOTEL, a fast expanding lifestyle brand with 18 hotels in operation across Europe, Asia and North America and significant global expansion plans. The hotel will be operated by Hamilton Hotel Partners.

Kristian Smyth, Executive Director, Investments at Tristan Capital Partners said: “This acquisition represents the first step in our wider hotel strategy and we are very excited to have started with a hotel of this quality. The acqusition is our first alongside Hamilton Hotel Partners and we expect to continue to grow this relationship.”

“Funds advised by Tristan have been actively pursuing hospitality opportunities with an emphasis on the UK and Spain and we are focused on acquiring assets which we believe will fit into either our core-plus or opportunistic funds. Our objective is to invest in excess of €500 million over the next 12 months and we are currently in discussions regarding a number of transactions in this space.”

The Fund was advised by Greenberg Traurig, LLP, PWC, Workman and HVS.

Prices: Undisclosed

THPT Comment: Two interesting moves here…GPE enter the hotel affray, launch a new brand perhaps with The Corner, RBH continue their progress in hotel management and strike a new partnership with Hamilton Hotel Partners, Hamilton take on the Yotel brand…so what of Qbic? Leaves them with Amsterdam and Brussels…and in April 2021 when they opened London when Paul Rinkens, Founder and CEO had plans for “10 more properties over the the next seven years…” backed by Bridges Ventures

First Seen: Various: The Caterer and Tristan Capital Partners news

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