Maple Grove Secures £4.8m Blackburn Hotel Sale

Maple Grove Developments, part of the Eric Wright Group, has sold its 60-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and 3,500 sq ft ground floor restaurant at Blackburn Cathedral Quarter to Knight Frank Investment Management on behalf of Lancashire County Pension Fund for £4.8m, representing a net yield of 5.79 per cent.

The £16m town centre regeneration project, pioneered by Blackburn and Darwen Borough Council and Maple Grove Developments, will create a new mixed-use commercial quarter around the Cathedral fronting the railway station and a new bus interchange.

The scheme, which is being built by Eric Wright Construction, is scheduled for completion at the end of September 2015, with the Premier Inn due to open 9 November 2015.

Graham Pilkington, senior development surveyor at Maple Grove Developments, said: “We’re delighted to have secured a deal with Lancashire County Council for the new Premier Inn and ground floor restaurant, which shows the local authority’s confidence in the scheme and its role in regenerating Blackburn town centre.

Ben Ward, investment manager at Knight Frank Investment Management, added: “We are very pleased to be able to add this asset to the Lancashire County Pension Fund’s County of Lancashire property portfolio.  As well as offering attractive inflation-linked returns for the fund, this property development supports regeneration within the county.”