Lothbury acquires Southwark Travelodge for £56.3m

Lothbury Investment Management has bought the Travelodge London Central Southwark for £56.3m on behalf of a UK pension fund.

The 202-bedroom property, which was built in 2008, is described as "one of the top performing hotels in the Travelodge portfolio" and has been purchased by clients of Lothbury with 30 years unexpired on the lease and rent reviews linked to RPI. The freehold property also comprises three retail/restaurant units totalling 7,250 sq ft at ground level.

Mike Toft, senior fund manager and executive director of Lothbury Investment Management, described it as an "important purchase for the fund" with "attractive longer term redevelopment opportunities".

Lothbury was advised by Tydus Real Estate and NJB Hotels & Leisure, and the vendor was advised by CBRE.

Also this week, Aberdeen Standard Investments sold the Travelodge London Brent Cross to a private investor for £16m.

The newly refurbished 128-bedroom property also has a bar café and separate ground-floor office accommodation which is let to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Shaun Roy, head of hotels at Knight Frank, which advised Aberdeen Standard Investments on the sale, said the purchaser was "encouraged by the improving covenant of Travelodge and the robust hotel market" and was "keen to invest in a fixed income asset in London".

Tom Elviss, assistant fund manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments, said the disposal "crystallised a significant profit to the fund following the comprehensive redevelopment of the asset in 2016/2017 to facilitate the change of use from an office to a hotel which had been pre-let to Travelodge".

Travelodge operates more than 570 hotels and has 38,000 rooms across the UK, Ireland and Spain.

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