Apollo strikes £137.5m hotel refi in King’s Cross

A trendy boutique hotel in London’s King’s Cross, WC1, has struck a £137.5m refinancing loan with investment manager Apollo. Crosstree Real Estate Partners has used the five-year, floating-rate senior loan to refinance a construction loan provided by HSBC for The Standard hotel. Apollo originated the loan on behalf of one of its permanent capital vehicles. The 266-room Standard opened in July and is the Standard Hotels chain’s first international location outside of its domestic US market. The chain is run by hotelier André Balazs. Crosstree bought the site of Camden Council’s former town hall in 2014 and the following year was given permission to redevelop it into the hotel. Hotel investment in London is booming, with new research from law firm Boodle Hatfield showing that there are 210 new hotels planned across London. Projects in the works include Qatari Diar’s redevelopment of the former US Embassy on Grosvenor Square into a £1bn luxury hotel and a five-star Nobu hotel in Marylebone. To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette