The former Port of London Authority headquarters at 10 Trinity Square is to be reborn as the Square Mile’s first “super luxury” hotel and residences by plans to be published this week.
The grade II* listed building and three-acre site next to the Tower of London in the City was bought by Singapore-based KOP Properties, the real estate group, and Reignwood Group, a Chinese investment firm, last year.
The group is to implement plans to form a 120-bedroom hotel with 37 private apartments designed by David Collins, as well as an exclusive private members’ club, three restaurants and a spa. KOP has resubmitted revised plans for the scheme, which it hopes will be granted permission this summer. Completion of the project is expected by 2014.
The building was home to the Port of London Authority until 1971, and subsequently UK headquarters of Willis Insurance. Designed by Sir Edwin Cooper in 1922 in an “English Renaissance” style, it also hosted the inaugural meeting of the General Assembly of the UN in 1946.
The development will form part of a wave of upmarket hotels and homes to be built in the City, with Heron, Gerald Ronson’s development group, starting on site next month to build a Four Seasons hotel and apartments on Broadgate.
Ten of the residences in the scheme have already been sold at a target price of about £2,500 per sq ft – a record for residential property in the area. The other residential apartments will be released for sale next week – although by “invitation only” – according to the developers, including two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments and penthouses located on the upper four floors.
Leny Suparman, chief executive of KOP Properties, said 10 Trinity Square would be the flagship hotel for a new chain that the group intended to build across Europe. The company is seeking further sites in the UK.
She said: “We see the potential for the future rejuvenation of this area of London. There is no super luxury hotel in the City. The value in this market has not yet been unlocked.”
Ms Suparman added that the Singaporean group hoped to tap the interest shown by Asian tourists and home buyers. Strength of Asian currencies has added to the region’s desire to visit the UK, she said, which would be also buoyed by the “hype” surrounding the 2012 Olympic Games. “We are already making a big buzz about this hotel in Asia,” she said.
The 10 Trinity Square building was damaged during the second world war. Although the building has been refurbished, much of the internal period elements of the building were retained.
Dr Chanchai Ruayrungruan, chairman of Reignwood Group, said: “We are committed to upgrade this monument to make it one of London’s most impressive buildings.”