4C secures £52m for Westin London City hotel

4C Hotel Group has gained a £52m loan from OakNorth Bank for its 222-bedroom Westin London City and Residences development on Upper Thames Street, EC4. The five-star hotel, which is the first to operate under the Westin Hotels & Resorts brand in the UK, includes 10 suites, a 4,000 sq ft spa with an indoor swimming pool and a fitness studio. It also has 11,000 sq ft of meeting spaces, bar and restaurant. The residences aspect consists of nine three-bedroom apartments. The developer and manager has a portfolio of 13 hotels, with a further development pipeline of more than 500 rooms over the next two to three years. The group was founded by developer Bashir Nathoo and son and managing director Al-karim Nathoo. Al-Karim Nathoo said that OakNorth was a new relationship for the group. Hilton Foster, director of debt finance at OakNorth Bank, said: “While it’s difficult to forecast the near-term fortunes of the UK hotel market, domestic leisure demand is expected to lead the recovery in the sector, with markets which traditionally receive a greater share of domestic tourism seeing occupancy recover first. ”Given its central location close to a number of top tourist attractions, wide range of amenities, and the fact that it’s operated by a highly-regarded team under an international brand, we expect the new hotel to see strong demand from both corporates and tourists.” OakNorth Bank was introduced to the deal by David Yeadon, executive director of SPF Private Clients. To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@eg.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @EGPropertyNews