Luxury hotel development on London's Strand in receivership

PricewaterhouseCoopers partners Russell Downs, Barry Gilbertson and Mark Shires have been appointed by Spanish Bank BBVA as joint fixed charge receivers over the Foster & Partners designed 336-337 Strand in London.

The development, which were on the site of the former Marconi Building and later Citibank House, are owned by Urvasco, a subsidiary of the Spanish company Grupo Hotelero Urvasco.

Mark Shires, joint fixed charge receiver and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: 'Urvasco Limited was formed to progress the development of a 5-star hotel and 79 luxury apartments on the site of a listed building.

'The hotel was intended to be managed by the company under the Silken hotel brand, and the apartments were being developed for sale.'

Work on the site stopped at the end of last year and it is part built.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' specialist real estate and construction partner Barry Gilbertson, said: ‘Our first task is to take stock of the part-built construction, to understand the quality and condition of the structure, which may have deteriorated after being exposed to the weather through last winter.

'Following this, we will carry out significant due diligence to put together a detailed information memorandum for sale.

'It was incorrectly rumoured earlier this year, that the developers had gone into administration, and we were inundated with enquiries from potential purchasers.’

'If the Green shoots of recovery really are pushing up through the streets of tourist London, then we expect that there will be very strong demand to take over this development to build out the hotel, with its stunning marble pyramidal atrium, and the apartments which are in a fantastic location right in the heart of London's theatreland midway between the West End and the City.’