UK Property: Development in York City Centre

CBRE Investment Management’s UK balanced core fund has recently completed the development of a 188 bedroom hotel in York city centre. The hotel is let to Premier Inn Hotels Ltd who will open for trading later this year. To align with both the fund’s sustainability agenda and Premier Inn’s corporate requirements, sustainability has been built into the development from the design phase through to completion of the construction. The site was previously a solus retail warehouse unit where possible, materials from the previous property were used in the new development.

The hotel is a timber frame construction, regarded as a more sustainable alternative to steel frames. In terms of operational carbon intensity, M&E systems are the main performance drivers. The hotel has an electric heating system, heat recovery system and the domestic hot water systems are driven by roof mounted air source heat pumps. There is also a solar PV array on the roof that will help to limit demand on grid electricity. There are electric vehicle charging points within the car park, though public transport use is promoted by Premier Inn bearing in mind proximity to local connections.

The development achieved a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ certification and EPC ‘A’ rating.