Luxury hotel helps Soho’s facelift

Soho's redevelopment gained pace today as a husband-and-wife team running luxury hotels in the capital struck a deal to redevelop Ham Yard, a derelict former Second Word War bombsite close to Shaftesbury Avenue.

Tim and Kit Kemp already run the Soho Hotel in nearby Richmond Mews, but plan the new hotel to be more upmarket and form the flagship of their Firmdale group. They are buying the three-quarters of an acre site for £30 million and will spend up to

£60 million building a 100-room hotel plus 50,000 square feet of housing. A third of the new homes will be affordable accommodation.

Ham Yard is one of the many properties in the capital going under the hammer in the recession after its owners went bust. Agents Allsop and Fleurets were appointed as agents after liquidation proceedings were brought against Gibraltar-registered Windmill Developments.

Firmdale is thought to have won an auction after Ross Mansoori-Dara, one of the founders of the now-defunct City Lofts luxury flats developer, pulled out due to financing issues.