Progress Looks Likely on La Reserve Hotel Site
New plan is for serviced apartments on Fulham Road near Stamford Bridge
A drawing of the new building from documents submitted with the application
A revised proposal has been submitted for the site at 422-426 Fulham Road which has been vacant since the demolition of La Reserve Hotel.
Permission was previously granted in 2018 for a 72-bedroom hotel near the Chelsea football stadium but that project was never proceeded with due to poor prospects for the travel industry particularly during the pandemic. Now a new landholder, WY Developments, is seeking permission to build a new four storey building which will house 50 serviced apartments. It is also seeking retrospective planning permission for the demolition of the original building which was taken down with the proper authority.
As per the previous proposals, the four-storey building will be clad with a mixture of white Stucco render and facing London-stock brickwork with projecting brick features. At ground floor level, a series of lightwells are proposed to the front of the building to serve a double basement, this will be protected by traditional iron-railings.
The main entrance to the building sits prominently in the centre of the ground floor framed by a large stone feature that projects forward of the recessed central elevation. The application states that the exterior of the new design has only minor changes from the one previously approved. The revised proposals incorporate a second basement level to provide underground car-parking that will service the wheelchair accessible units in the development. The basement will be accessed via a car-lift which will be at ground floor level on the eastern end.
A statement by the applicant says approval is being sought for the plan following discussions with council planning officers in which the reasons for the change of use were explained. It says that no suitable operator for a hotel could be found which required a reconsideration of how the site could be viably developed.
The former La Reserve Hotel. Picture: Google Streetview
The serviced apartments will comprise small units with self-contained living accommodation including kitchens and bathrooms. They aim to service a need across London for longer-term temporary accommodation, often used to support medium-term business trips as a half-way product between a more limited hotel room and a traditional home. To ensure the apartments are not occupied as permanent dwellings, a 90-day restriction will be applied to the units to ensure that no individual can occupy the serviced apartments for more than 90-days per year.
The demolished former hotel building had been allocated as a Building of Merit and was within the Fulham Road Conservation Area.
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March 21, 2022