Work starts on £47m Manchester Maldron hotel

Work has started on the development of the £47m, 278-bedroom Maldron hotel in Manchester's Charles Street.

The development is a joint venture between European real estate investment, development and asset management firm Catalyst Capital and Sir Robert McAlpine Capital Ventures (SRMCV), the development arm of the Sir Robert McAlpine group.

Having secured Dalata Hotel Group to lease the hotel with its Maldron brand, Catalyst obtained planning consent for the development on 31 May this year. Aviva Investors is forward-funding the development and McAleer & Rushe has been appointed to carry out the design and build works.

The hotel is one of two Dalata-branded properties expected to open in the city, with a Clayton hotel already operating at Manchester Airport.

Dan White, development director at Catalyst Capital, said: "The development of this Maldron hotel will add to the Oxford Road corridor's strategic importance in the city. The high quality of the hotel's design will complement the Circle Square masterplan opposite and should be completed in a similar timeframe."

Shane Casserly, head of development and strategy at Dalata Hotel Group, said: "This will be Dalata's third hotel in Manchester as we already successfully operate a Clayton hotel at Manchester Airport and are committed to operating a new Clayton hotel on Portland Street, currently under construction and scheduled to open in mid-2021."

Rhys Evans, director, real estate at Aviva Investors, added: "Manchester is a core investment location for our real assets business and this acquisition is key to our wider strategy in this market."

Dalata Hotel Group was founded in August 2007 and its portfolio consists of 30 owned hotels, 10 leased hotels and three management contracts with a total of 9,046 bedrooms. The group has more than 2,000 rooms in its regional pipeline over the next three years with hotels in Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester (two) and Glasgow (two) due to open by 2022.