Irish hotel group, Dalata, is expanding its presence in Scotland with the acquisition of a development site at 28 St. Andrew’s Square in Edinburgh. It comes as the Irish group also completes the transaction to acquire the leasehold interest in Hard Rock Hotel Amsterdam American.
The development site, which fronts onto St. Andrew’s Square, was acquired for a total consideration of £12.5 million, from Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited and joins The Clayton Hotel Glasgow in the groups portfolio of European city hotels.
The site includes a Category A listed building which is currently vacant and approved for office use, with planning permission granted for an extension to both the rooftop and rear of the property.
The Group plans to submit a revised planning application in Q1 next year, enabling the construction of a new 4-star Clayton Hotel, which is expected to be completed by mid-2026.
Subject to a successful revised planning application the hotel will incorporate 153 bedrooms, a bar, restaurant, dry gym and two large meeting rooms with stunning period features on the first floor overlooking St. Andrew’s Square.
The overall investment in the project, including the site purchase, will be circa £48 million, creating circa 60 new employee positions when the hotel is operational.
The group say that the new hotel, as part of their sustainability strategy, will be one of their first to be designed to operate with zero on-site carbon emissions. As a conversion scheme, it will also have considerably lower embodied carbon than a new build.
Dermot Crowley, CEO, Dalata said, “Today (4 October) is an important day for the Dalata team as we announce two significant developments for the Group.
“Edinburgh has long been a target city for us to locate our brands and we are delighted to have secured such a prestigious building in the centre of the city. This will be our third hotel in Scotland.”
Shane Casserly, Corporate Development Director, Dalata added, “Edinburgh is one of the top performing hotel markets in Europe and we are delighted to secure a development site in such a prestigious location. Our development team has extensive experience and history in delivering complex projects, we look forward to collaborating with Edinburgh authorities, to deliver a flagship Clayton hotel with zero onsite operational carbon by mid-2026.”
Dalata Hotel Group plc, Ireland’s largest hotel operator, was founded in August 2007 and listed as a plc in March 2014. The Group’s portfolio includes 53 three and four-star hotels with 11,412 rooms and a pipeline of over 1,300 rooms. The Group currently has 32 owned hotels, 18 leased hotels and three management contracts and it operates Ireland’s two largest hotel brands, the Clayton and the Maldron Hotels.
Picture: The Clayton Hotel, Glasgow