• The 350-room Wilde scheme near Holborn Viaduct is due to complete in 2029

Penta Real Estate and Staycity Group have established a joint venture worth more than £230m to fund a 350-room aparthotel at Morley House in Farringdon, central London.

The JV is split 80:20, with Penta Real Estate the majority shareholder. It follows Penta’s £1bn JV with Ballymore, which will fund more than 1,000 new homes across three London locations.

The 11-storey aparthotel will operate under Staycity Group’s Wilde brand. It will be Staycity’s seventh site in the capital and adds to its pipeline of hotels under development in London, which has a gross development value of around £700m.

Staycity structured the deal to acquire the site in 2025 and has since taken it to a construction-ready stage, securing new planning permission. Altius Real Estate will act as development manager and played a critical role in securing full planning consent.

Construction is expected to begin imminently, following demolition of the existing office block. Completion is anticipated in 2029.

The scheme will also include commercial office space and the refurbishment of the Grade II listed City Temple Church. The ground floor will be open to the public and guests, with a café, bar and co-working lounge areas. Guests will have a 24-hour reception and full hotel services.

The site has access to the Elizabeth line, Thameslink and several London Underground services. It sits within an established central London office hub, with a growing pipeline of commercial and mixed-use developments nearby. International visitor numbers to London are projected to reach around 25.2 million by 2030.