Capital Economy, Business and Finance
London’s BT Tower has been sold to the US hotel group MCR for £275 million. It’s a vote of confidence in the UK – most of the hotels in MCR’s $5 billion portfolio are across 37 states in the US, including the TWA Hotel at JFK airport. It’s also another first in the evolution of the BT Tower, which at 177m was the tallest building in London when it first opened in the 1960s (it’s now slipped out of the top 20) and opened Britain’s first revolving restaurant, The Top of the Tower, in 1966. Wednesday’s deal marks the first time it has been sold on the open market. MCR has hired the architect Thomas Heatherwick to help reimagine the building as a hotel once BT has removed all of its equipment (which could take up to six years). The new owners could be hoping for a repeat of Raffles London, which opened last autumn inside the Old War Office with the cheapest rooms fetching £1,100 a night.