Shepherd bags London hotel contract, again

Shepherd Construction has secured a £33m contract to renovate a historic hotel in London almost two years after the contractor left the site when the project stalled.

The £33m contract will see Shepherd Construction transforming the grade-ll listed former Berners Hotel in Fitzrovia into a luxury lifestyle hotel created by Marriott International in partnership with American hotelier Ian Schrager.

The appointment of Shepherd to the job comes almost two years after the contractor left the site when the initial project stalled.

The previous owner JJW Hotels & Resorts fell into administration in August 2010.

The hotel, which has been closed since 2006, was bought by Marriott International in November 2010 and will become The London EDITION when it opens in 2013. The hotel will be one of six EDITION hotels that are scheduled to be operating across the globe by 2015.

The building, which was originally built in 1835 as five separate houses, will have the facade restored and the interior refurbished to create a 175-bedroom hotel.

Shepherd is due to complete work on the project by December 2012.

Mark Tant, Shepherd Construction’s managing director for the south division, said: “It is fantastic for us to be back on-site on a project that we can now see through to completion.”