Developer plans double office-to-hotel conversion in Square Mile

Developers continue to turn London’s obsolete office stock into hotels, with one investor lodging plans for two sizeable schemes in the Square Mile this month alone. Integrity International Group has filed separate plans for the redevelopment of Atlas House at 1-7 King Street, EC2, and 6-11 Crescent, EC3. The planning applications are via Blue Orchid, which is owned by Integrity and which will be operating the hotels. Atlas House, a vacant office building, will be converted into a 104-bedroom Blue Orchid boutique hotel. The company acquired the site from Hines in December 2023, after tenant Argyll, a serviced office operator, vacated the space due to the building’s poor condition for office use. The 63,345 sq ft site faces Cheapside to the south, King Street to the west and Ironmonger Lane to the east. The scheme will feature a public bar on the ground floor facing Cheapside, a new restaurant, flexible co-working space, and a health club, gym and spa in the basement. The block at 6-11 Crescent will be converted into an aparthotel. The unused six-storey office building is located within the Crescent Conservation Area on the City’s boundary with Tower Hamlets. The scheme will incorporate 99 suites, 10 of which will be suitable for disabled users. The suites will range in from 270 sq ft to 323 sq ft and will be targeted at people working in the City and elsewhere in London. Tony Matharu, founder of Integrity, said when the company bought the sites last year that they represented the company’s “continued commitment to invest in and breathe new life into London property, particularly those buildings at the end of their previous lives”. Cushman & Wakefield said in a report earlier this year that office-to-hotel development was accounting for a significant proportion of hotel deals.