Great Scotland Yard snapped up by Indian billionaire Yusuffali Kader’s Lulu Group for luxury hotel
Indian billionaire Yusuffali Kader has snapped up the historic home of London's Metropolitan police and will turn Great Scotland Yard into a luxury hotel.
Kader's Abu Dhabi headquartered Lulu Group has bought up the Edwardian building in Whitehall in a £110m deal with Galliard Homes, and will work with the Steigenberger Hotel Group to run the 92,000 sq ft hotel.
The Great Scotland Yard as it will be called, will offer guests suites costing as much as £10,000 per night after it undergoes a £50m refurbishment.
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Due to open in early 2017, the five-star hotel boasts a history which includes being the location for investigating the Jack the Ripper murders as well as the spot in which Lord Kitchener told army recruits "Your country needs you" when it was later a British Army recruitment office during the first world war.
It was also the location of the Ministry of Defense until 2004, before Galliard bought the 125-year lease for the site in 2013.
The seven-storey hotel will also host two bars, a restaurant, library, and private entertainment and dining space, employing 250 staff.
New Scotland Yard, the current home of the Met police in Victoria, was snapped up by Abu Dhabi Financial Group last year, netting £120m more than the guide price of £250m, amid a Middle Eastern buying spree in the prime London property market.