Morgans Hotel Group has recently announced that it has entered into a hotel management agreement for an approximately 360-room Mondrian-branded hotel to be located at Sea Containers building on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. This hotel is expected to be the sixth Mondrian hotel in the expansion of the Company’s iconic brand and the first Mondrian hotel in Europe. Upon completion and opening of the hotel, Morgans will operate the hotel pursuant to a 25-year management agreement, with two 10-year extension options. The hotel is scheduled to open in early 2014.
“We are very excited to announce our first Mondrian hotel in Europe,” said Michael Gross, Chief Executive Officer of Morgans Hotel Group. “Sea Containers is an exceptional property in a key gateway city that will allow us to serve our guests for business and leisure throughout the year. Morgans was specifically selected by the property’s owner to develop and manage Mondrian London, which is a testament to the appeal of our lifestyle management and the strength of the Mondrian brand. This is the third new management agreement for a Mondrian-branded hotel that we have announced this year. We believe the Mondrian brand has unique appeal and significant potential for global expansion.”
Jonathan Ofer, Managing Director of the Deerbrook Group, the adviser to the owner said, “We conducted a thorough operator selection process and believe Morgans under the Mondrian brand will create a special destination at Sea Containers.”
Sea Containers is an approximately 412,000 square foot office building centrally located on the South Bank of the River Thames, close to many cultural attractions as well as business hubs. The owner of Sea Containers intends to renovate the building into a mixed-use development to include a 360-room Mondrian hotel and 280,000 square feet of prime office space. The hotel will have an innovative restaurant and both a ground floor bar and rooftop bar, specially conceived by The Light Group, one of the world’s leading food and beverage operators. Morgans intends to invest approximately 9 million pounds, or approximately $15 million, of key money into the project.
Earlier in the year, the Company announced it has entered into hotel management agreements for Mondrian-branded hotels in Doha.
Editors Note: The new owners of the Sanderson and St. Martins Hotels, Cedar Capital Partners, are embarking on refurbishment programmes at the hotels which will continue to be managed by Morgans