Soho House buys west London site
Soho House owner Nick Jones is launching a new private members' club, hotel, spa and brasserie in Chiswick, west London.
Jones's latest acquisition is Fouberts, a group of four buildings including a traditional Italian ice-cream parlour, restaurant and hotel.
Head of operations at Soho House UK, Charlie Luxton, confirmed the group had bought the site but declined to reveal its cost. It is expected to open in the autumn of 2006.
Luxton said the hotel would incorporate aspects of the group's Somerset country house hotel, Babington House, including a Cowshed-branded spa, and interiors will be designed by Ilse Crawford. There are also plans for a private members' club and brasserie.
"We're only just in the early stages of development," said Luxton. "We're still deciding exactly what to do with it."
A spokeswoman for the business said TV comedy duo Ant and Dec were shareholders in the Soho House group. Caterer reported that the pair had bid £8m for the site earlier this year.
Soho House now owns two Soho House private members' clubs, in London and in New York, Babington House hotel in Somerset, the Electric Brasserie in Notting Hill, the Balham Kitchen and Bar in south London and Cecconi's in Piccadilly.
The group is understood to be on the lookout for further sites in the UK and abroad.