Real estate company City Developments Limited (CDL) has been granted planning permission to build a luxury hotel on the site of the Pavilion Road car park in Knightsbridge.
The 120-room property will be designed by Tim Hamilton of Hamilton Architects.
It will have eight floors above ground and three below ground, while the £300 million development will add 2,100 sqm of retail space, a spa and accommodation.
The hotel is a few minutes’ walk from Harrods, and is linked to the store via a disused underground tunnel, though the developers say this will not be reopened.
Singapore-listed CDL owns the Pavilion Road car park through its wholly-owned subsidiary Beaumont Properties. The multi-storey has previously been called London’s most expensive car park.
CDL also owns Millennium and Copthorne Hotels, operator of the new Biltmore Mayfair.
It is looking to partner with a leading luxury brand on the Knightsbridge project, though this has not yet been finalised.
The head of Dartmouth Capital Advisors, which is advising CDL on the development, told The Caterer that reports the property would be the first Harrods-branded hotel were “premature”.
Say Kwek Leng Beng, chairman of CDL, said: “This site offers CDL one of the best opportunities to develop an outstanding hotel in one of the prime locations in central London.
“We are tremendously excited by this and the value it will bring to our London portfolio and our valued clients.
“London is the most popular tourist destination in the world, attracting around 30 million visitors every year from all over the world.”
