The owner of Blakes Hotels has submitted a planning application with Westminster City Council to create a new 30-room hotel at three adjacent buildings across the road from the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square. The application is supported by freeholder Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, which is selling a long lease to the hotelier.

Plans for the hotel include an all-day 120-cover Parisian style brasserie, a private members’ club and bar. The members’ club will cater for people active in the creative sector and Mayfair residents. The planning application includes a detailed operational management plan which mitigates the impact of servicing the hotel on the local community.

Navid Mirtorabi, owner of Blakes Hotel, said: “As ardent appreciators of Mayfair we believe it will be the perfect address for our project; an erudite, elegant and creatively intelligent 30 room hotel. It will be exquisite and charming as opposed to opulent and arrogant. This spirit will inform the easy, informal all day restaurant. A very contemporary menu will be based around locally sourced organic and biodynamic ingredients. We see it as a social and cultural catalyst. In the tradition of great European art hotels we will create an accessible offer for creative and interesting individuals.”

Anna Farnes, Director of Estate Development at Grosvenor Britain & Ireland said: “Developing a new hotel in Grosvenor Square is part of our long-term strategy to enhance Mayfair as a place to live, work and visit. The development will bring visitors, jobs and investment to the area, boosting local retailers and creating vibrancy for North Audley Street.”

The buildings proposed for redevelopment are 22 Grosvenor Square, 43 North Audley Street and 1 Lees Place. 22 Grosvenor Square and 43 North Audley Street are currently offices and have previous planning consent to be jointly developed into a restaurant and six residential apartments. 1 Lees Place is currently vacant and has planning permission for a residential dwelling. The buildings are adjacent to the United States Embassy on Grosvenor Square and date from the early twentieth century, with substantial rebuilding after bomb damage in World War Two.

Application submitted for planning permission granted for: Use of 22 Grosvenor Square, 43 North Audley Street and 1 Lees Place as a hotel, restaurant and private members club/bar (Sui Generis), with works including the infilling of the alleyway to the rear of 43 North Audley Street, partial demolition and rebuilding of 43 North Audley Street to provide a building of two storeys plus mansard, erection of a two storey extension to the rear facade of 1 Lees Place, including the extension of the basement floor to the front facade; installation of plant, the creation of a terrace at roof level of 22 Grosvenor Square and associated internal and external alterations; VARIATION OF APPROVED SCHEME DATED 19.7.16, amendments including creation of entrance on the corner of Grosvenor Square and North Audley Street, creation of sub basement level to accommodate mechanical plant and staff facilities, single storey extension to the rear, single storey extension at fifth floor to provide additional hotel accommodation, conversion of ground floor to full food and beverage facilities, creation of mezzanine floor between first and second floor levels to accommodate plant, and other physical works. Development Site At 1 Lees Place, 43 North Audley Street And 22 Grosvenor Square. Architect: ReardonSmith Architects; Planning Consultant: Gerald Eve.

Westminster Council ref. no. 17/05807/FULL.