Admiralty Arch, the momentous London milestone, is to be converted into a luxury hotel subsequent to the UK government consenting to lease it out for £60 million. The ceremonial entryway between The Mall and Trafalgar Square has been leased to a property developer for 125 years.
The property developer in question is Rafael Serrano, who has acquired the right to refurbish the Grade I-listed building, which has three arches and views of Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square, which are equally historic milestones of the UK and among the most effortlessly identifiable.
The Financial Times has mentioned that Rafael Serrano, who had constructed the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge recently, has attained the 125-year lease with an unambiguous proviso that forbids him from converting Admiralty Arch into a single home or apartments.
The lease pact represents a governmental programme of cost-cutting intended to compel governmental departments to streamline their property portfolios.
A spokeswoman of the Cabinet Office has uttered that leasing Admiralty Arch would conserve the heritage of the building, present alternatives for heightening the public access and offer value for money for the taxpayer.
Britons, who are proud of their monarchical contribution to the UK history, are sentimentally attached to Admiralty Arch. The building was built in 1912 after King Edward VII commanded that it be constructed as a commemoration of his mother, Queen Victoria.
Rafael Serrano has not voiced the date of the commencement of the luxury hotel. Planning permission for the luxury hotel needs to be provided by the Westminster Council. The price for staying at the luxury hotel was also not revealed by the Spanish investor.
Minister for Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, has stubbornly remarked that the lease doesn’t mean that a copious portion of Trafalgar Square would, in the future, be an enclave of London’s ultra wealthy people.
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Feel sad that such an iconic place is going to be leased to a private financier……hope that it benefits the public in some way….
It is going to become a preserve of the very wealthy Londoners….this lease is a sellout to the affluent…..