Knight Frank, the leading global commercial real estate advisor, has advised Aberdeen Standard Investments on the sale of a Travelodge in Brent Cross, North West London, to a private investor for £16 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 4.93%.
Newly refurbished, Travelodge Brent Cross comprises 128 bedrooms with a Bar Café and separate ground floor office accommodation which is let to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. It is situated in Brent Cross which is undergoing major regeneration with the development of a new £4.5 billion town centre, encompassing the £1.4 billion redevelopment of Brent Cross Shopping Centre, which is expected to create 27,000 jobs and to complete in 2022.
Located close to the area’s main shopping venues, the hotel also has strong transport links, being situated within a mile of Brent Cross and Hendon Central Underground Stations, both on the Northern line, and half a mile from Hendon Train Station which provides direct access to Blackfriars Station and London St Pancras International via Thameslink. The hotel is also easily accessible via Junction 1 of the M1 or from the North Circular.
Shaun Roy, Head of Hotels at Knight Frank, said: “Working with Aberdeen Standard Investments on the sale of the Brent Cross Travelodge led to a successful outcome for all. The strength of this asset’s location in the up and coming Brent Cross area, coupled with its excellent property fundamentals in providing long-term secure income, appealed to the purchaser of the asset. They were encouraged by the improving covenant of Travelodge and the robust hotel market and were keen to invest in a fixed income asset in London, so this deal ticked all of the boxes.”
Tom Elviss, Aberdeen Standard Investments, said: “This 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. Knight Frank handled the transaction from inception to completion, understanding and identifying the right buyer for this type of asset. They negotiated this complex transaction very professionally throughout. We look forward to continuing working with them in the future on further transactions.”
Travelodge, which was founded in 1985, was the UK’s first budget hotel brand. The chain operates over 570 hotels and has 38,000 rooms across the UK, Ireland and Spain. The company is the second largest hotel brand in the UK with 30.4% share of the UK budget hotel sector.
Standard Life Aberdeen plc is one of the world’s largest investment companies, created in 2017 from the merger of Standard Life plc and Aberdeen Asset Management PLC. Operating under the brand Aberdeen Standard Investments, the investment arm manages £557.1 billion of assets, making it the largest active manager in the UK and one of the largest in Europe.
