Dalata signs up for new Liverpool hotel

Dalata Hotel Group has agreed to lease a new hotel to be built in Liverpool as it continues to expand its UK presence. The new hotel, which will operate under the Irish group’s Maldron brand, forms part of a £170m mixed-use scheme, known as Park Lane, located adjacent to Liverpool One retail and leisure complex being jointly developed by the Elliot Group and Valorem. It will comprise approximately 260 rooms, a restaurant, a bar and meeting room facilities. Planning permission for the hotel has been secured and construction should start next year with the hotel expected to open in mid-2022. Anthony Maxwell-Jones of Valorem Investment Partners said: “The signing of the Maldron Hotel at Park Lane will act as a catalyst for the development. We’re now aiming for a new year start to ensure we maintain our momentum across the site.” Elliot Group and Valorem are now in discussions with funders for the scheme’s three new-build residential blocks, which include a 16-storey tower on the corner of Park Lane. The refurbishment of the listed Heap’s Rice Mill is separate from these discussions and remedial works have been undertaken on the mill since its acquisition to ensure it retains is physical integrity before commencing the full works in 2020. Hill Dickinson advised Elliot and Valorem on the deal, whilst Squire Patton Boggs acted for Dalata. The new deal comes as Dalata reported that its UK portfolio performed “strongly” achieving a like-for-like RevPAR increase of 3%, while it continues to face a “challenging” Dublin market. The group reported in a trading update that for the 11 months to the end of November RevPAR fell 3.2% across its hotels on a like-for-like basis owing to the continued impact of the VAT increase in the Irish capital. Ireland’s largest hotel operator added that the additional supply of hotel rooms and a reduction in the number of events in October and November was also to blame for its RevPAR slump. Dalata’s regional portfolio in Ireland saw RevPAR decrease by 0.7%, however, the firm said that as a result of effective cost control together with the positive impact of our hotels opened or extended during 2018 and early 2019 meant that its EBITDA will be in line with market expectations. Dermot Crowley, deputy chief executive, finance and development, said:”Our regional UK hotels have had a strong performance to date in 2019 and exceeded the market growth in all of the cities in which they operate. This result is very encouraging for our growth strategy in the UK. Our London hotels have also performed very strongly in their local areas. “Considering the once-off impact of the substantial increase in VAT together with increased supply in Dublin, I am happy that our Irish hotels have managed to protect their margins and help the group as a whole meet market expectations on EBITDA performance. “I am very pleased that 2019 will see a substantial increase in the level of free cashflow generated. This increase has been driven by the very successful performance of the hotels opened or extended in 2018 and early 2019. “We look forward with confidence to 2020. We expect to see the continued very positive impact of the seven hotels opened or acquired in the last 18 months. Although supply continues to increase in Dublin, strong economic indicators for Ireland as a whole and an improved calendar of events in the city will help us to continue to grow profitably in the months ahead.” To send feedback, e-mail louise.dransfield@egi.co.uk or tweet @DransfieldL or @estatesgazette