Urban Splash sells Midland Hotel
MANCHESTER-based property developer Urban Splash has sold the freehold of the Midland Hotel in Morecambe to The Lancaster Foundation for an undisclosed sum.
Urban Splash had bought the hotel – considered to be an important piece of modernist architecture – in 2006 after a long period of closure, during which it had fallen into disrepair.
A two-year restoration programme completed in 2008, and in the following year the developer agreed a new partnership deal with Cumbrian family-owned firm English Lakes Hotels, which owns the Low Wood Hotel in Windermere, among others.
Urban Splash founder Tom Bloxham said the deal to sell the Freehold to The Lancaster Foundation – a Christian charitable foundation based in Clitheroe – showed there was ‘a demand for quality Urban Splash assets’.
He added: “The Midland Hotel is a much loved building, and it was a joy for us to be able to restore and reopen this iconic hotel once again.
“This sale completes phase one of our development in Morecambe and we are now concentrating our efforts on securing planning for phase two of the proposals on the adjoining site”.
Chris Richardson of The Lancaster Foundation commented: “We are delighted to invest in this great hotel. We believe with our commitment to the property and English Lakes Hotels management the hotel will go from strength to strength”.
