Leading hotel chain Premier Inn has been confirmed as the first occupier of a £15 million development in Kent in a pre-let agreement with Henry Davidson Developments (HDD).
The announcement comes shortly after HDD revealed it had exchanged contracts to acquire three plots of land for development south of the historic market town of Faversham.
Subject to planning consent, the Ashford Road development will include a small foodstore, an 84-bedroom Premier Inn hotel, and a 66-bedroom high-quality care home for the elderly.
Dozens of jobs for local people will be created during construction and at the new facilities once the project is completed. The Premier Inn alone is expected to create approximately 32 new jobs once open and trading. HDD hopes to start on site in Q4 this year, with practical completion expected in late 2019.
HDD has exchanged contracts to acquire the land from Hallam Land Management, part of the Henry Boot Group and Vendors FK Kemsley & Sons Ltd, who were jointly advised by Strutt & Parker.
The site is adjacent to a residential development being delivered by national house builder Barratt Homes. They are due to start building the first of 310 new homes later this year.
Project director Kevin Foster said: “To have secured a pre-let agreement with Whitbread for a new Premier Inn at this very early stage of the development clearly demonstrates its enormous appeal. We have taken an important step forward towards delivering first class new facilities for the people of Faversham and surrounding area.
“We are in the process of agreeing two further pre-lets with highly respected companies who will provide a foodstore and care home, giving this historic market town an enormous boost alongside the new homes being built nearby.”
Derek Griffin, head of acquisitions – London and South & East England – at Whitbread, said: “This is another excellent location for our guests and adds to our growing Premier Inn national network. We want to bring our investment and commitment to making this development a great success and are really looking forward to coming to Faversham as part of this exciting scheme.”
HDD specialises in retail-led and mixed-use developments. The company last year completed major retail-led mixed-use developments at Didcot in Oxfordshire, and Newton Leys in Milton Keynes. It also recently completed an Aldi store at Ashford, Kent, on behalf of regeneration specialist and investor U+I.
Last year, HDD relocated its headquarters to Birmingham and quickly capitalised on the city’s booming commercial property market. The ambitious property developer is expanding its operations after relocating from Nottingham with support from Finance Birmingham.
