Partnering with building owners and local authorities to drive regeneration

The face of the high street has drastically changed in the last five years. We have all seen that, post-pandemic, people have changed the way they work and shop due to the ever increasing popularity of the hybrid working model and the shift of purchasing habits moving predominantly online.

These continuing trends are leading to an increase of vacant office and retail units, which is a shift in what we have all been used to, but we feel that the opportunities this presents should not be ignored.

The Centre for Cities, the leading thinktank for improving the economies of the UK’s largest cities and towns, has found that the “reframing of the high street has also led to a change in the use of space” and “repurposing of space will continue to be a key consideration”.

To re-evaluate the current high street, we need to find ways to use this empty space by repurposing it, and a great solution can be conversions to Travelodge hotels, to bring life back to these important local spaces.

As part of our ongoing development strategy we want to help maintain and improve our town and city centres, ensuring they are economically viable, sustainable and culturally-vibrant places.

A win–win solution

At Travelodge, we already work closely with local communities and real estate partners to explore opportunities to deliver regeneration and job creation through our new hotel development programme.

The demand from both business and leisure travellers for good value and quality accommodation across the country is increasing year-on-year and, to fulfil this demand, we see a new pathway to sustainable expansion by carrying out conversions of buildings that are no longer occupied.

This type of development is a win-win solution for all parties, as it brings redundant space back into active, economic use, revitalising communities. The approach delivers significant inward investment by attracting thousands of new visitors to an area each year and creates new job opportunities for both the local area and for UK cities in general.

We are seeking either ownership of these buildings or to take a new lease and work with the current owner to convert these unused spaces to new Travelodges. Our leasehold model is an attractive real estate investment and offers many secure benefits to building owners, including long-term, secure rental income, institutionally-accepted leases, lease terms of 25 or 30 years, with no breaks, five-year rent reviews in line with inflation, full repairing and insuring leases, as well as significant ESG benefits.

Effective partnerships

We want to continue to work with local authorities to unlock regeneration opportunities, to help grow our towns and cities. We have a proven track record of working with nearly 30 forward-thinking local authorities across the UK – our effective, innovative, partnership development deals are spearheading regional economic growth and providing a solid, long-term revenue stream and we continue to see how these joint initiatives can bring benefits to the community.

These deals have had unique funding structures which have enabled local authorities to utilise their existing assets, create jobs, generate income and help to regenerate brownfield land in strategically important locations.

Some of the new Travelodge hotels in this programme have been built on surplus local authority land, with the funding provided either through the local authority’s internal resource or via low-cost funding from the Public Works Loan Board, or third party resources.

Upon completion of the hotel development, local authorities have the choice of either retaining ownership of the hotel and receiving an annual rent into the council’s revenue budget, or selling the hotel with Travelodge as its operator.

Working together

Travelodge also has extensive experience in converting buildings to thriving and successful hotels and has carried out many developments of this type in the past.

We are currently transforming Gredley House, a vacant office building in Stratford, London, into a 151-room Travelodge. Built to BREEAM Excellent standards, it will feature our new, premium look-and-feel design, as well as our new restaurant concept 85 Bar Cafe. This is our vision for other vacant properties that have the potential to become a positive presence in their local areas.

Building owners, local authorities and business operators all have to work together to ensure our towns and cities continue to grow. We are ready to help and be part of the major regeneration projects taking place across the country.

We have over 300 target locations for new hotels in key locations across the UK, and would love to hear from developers, building owners or local authorities on how we can work together to restore our High Streets in an economical and sustainable way.