A new hotel in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter which will bring 130 jobs has won a £28m development finance loan from the Northern Ireland Investment Fund (NIIF).
Work was started last month on the 228-room hotel at Hamilton Dock in Titanic Quarter, close to visitor attraction Titanic Belfast, by developer JMK.
Now NIIF, which is managed by the lending team of CBRE, has brought it a step forward by providing its biggest ever loan to support the project.
When complete, the hotel will be branded as an Aloft Hotel and Residence Inn Aparthotel, operated under a Marriott franchise agreement. Its location is opposite a fellow Marriott hotel, the AC Marriott at City Quays.
A spokesperson for CBRE said the project aligned with the fund’s aims to enable property projects which supported “innovation, businesses, energy efficiency, low carbon energy generation and job creation”.
The project will bring 130 jobs, with 60 during construction and 70 full-time roles at the hotel.
The NIIF recently increased in size from £100m to £150m, with the Hamilton Dock Hotel loan marking the fund’s largest loan since it was set up.
Herbin Duffield, director at CBRE said: “When the NIIF launched in 2018 there was sufficient debt liquidity and supply of new hotel developments in Belfast.
“The pandemic and rising interest rates have tested those conditions, and supply and debt liquidity is now more constrained.
“NIIF is addressing market failure and providing debt funding that will create jobs in a key regeneration area in the Titanic Quarter by delivering a hotel with strong environmental and sustainability credentials.
“Having explored a range of funding options and solutions for this site, we are delighted to have committed a loan facility to finance the delivery of this project.”
Zain Kajani, director at JMK added: “We are pleased to have the funding in place and break ground at the JMK group’s first hotel in Northern Ireland, adding further depth to our hotel portfolio in the UK and Republic of Ireland, and aligning with our expansion strategy and forward-thinking approach to drive sustainability.”
Source: Belfast Telegraph (link opens in new window)
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