OakNorth completes £21m luxury hotel deal

By Bridging Loan Directory 30th May 2017

OakNorth – has completed its largest deal since launching in September 2015: a £21m loan for the development of a new hotel, L’Oscar, in central London. The luxury hotel – situated at 2-6 Southampton Row in Holborn, in a Grade II* listed former Baptist Church headquarters, is expected to open its doors in early 2018. The hotel is being designed by Jacques Garcia and upon completion, will comprise of 40 bedrooms, as well as a bar, restaurant, café, and conference facilities. Jacques Garcia is the creative mastermind behind Hotel Costes, the leading hotel in Paris, as well as the Nomad hotel in New York and Vagabond Hotel in Singapore. The hotel will be managed by Michael Voigt who has over 20 years’ experience in the luxury hospitality sector.

Ben Barbanel, pictured, Head of Debt Finance, and Deepesh Thakrar, Debt Finance Director at OakNorth commented:

“We’ve worked on a number of hotel deals since our launch in September 2015 – the development of a 200-bedroom aparthotel in Liverpool, the acquisition of the Ramada Plaza Southport Hotel, the merger between Whittlebury Hall and Whittlebury Park – but this is the first we’ve done in the hotel development space. We look forward to the opening of L’Oscar.”

Tony Tadros Director at Stonehouse Finance continued:

“We are delighted to have worked with OakNorth – while arranging the debt for this transaction, we found the team to be incredibly swift, efficient and focused on closure within the tight deadline. A very refreshing, and impressive property finance proposition, and we look forward to our next transaction with the team‎.”