Indian billionaire buys old Scotland Yard site for £110m

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33675275

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One of India's richest men, Yusuffali Kader, has bought the original Scotland Yard site in Whitehall for £110m.

The property is being converted into a luxury hotel by developer Galliard Homes.

The completed hotel will be owned by Mr Kader's Abu Dhabi-based Lulu Group International and operated by Steigenberger.

The 92,000 sq ft hotel will become the group's first UK property and is due to open in the first quarter of 2017.

The site, at 1- 5 Great Scotland Yard, was the location of the original Scotland Yard police station between 1829 and 1890.

The existing Edwardian building was constructed in 1910 and was an Army recruitment centre and Royal Military Police headquarters.

It was refurbished in 1982 and housed a Ministry of Defence library until 2004.

Lulu Group is a conglomerate that has interests in the retail, property, hospitality, and food and manufacturing sectors.

Mr Kader, who founded Lulu in 1973, is estimated to be worth £1.8bn.

Galliard acquired the site in late 2013 and had been in talks with Malmaison hotels, but its US private equity owners KSL Capital Partners sold the business and the deal fell through.