Be First, Barking and Dagenham Council’s pioneering regeneration company, has agreed a deal to build a new 78 room hotel adjacent to the site of the soon-to-be largest film studios in London.
The hotel will be run by Travelodge and built by Barnes Construction through a funding agreement with Berkeley Square Developments on behalf of Be First acting for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.
The £7 mil deal comes hot on the heels of the announcement by Be First of a preferred partner to build and operate new film and TV studios and a movie-themed visitor centre on the 22 acre-site at Dagenham East.
Iain Ferguson, Commercial Director at Be First, said: “This agreement is another sign that Dagenham is on the up.
“Dagenham East is fast becoming a hotspot for dynamic high-tech industries, with the film studios and datacentre plans now out of the starting blocks.
“These developments will bring thousands of jobs for local people at all levels – from construction workers, carpenters and hotel staff to set designers and film and TV producers.”
Alan Gavin from Berkeley Square Developments said: “We are delighted to be developing the new Travelodge at Dagenham East with Be First. They are really putting the area on the map as one of the leading regeneration areas in London and the combination of a Travelodge and film studio will further spur inward investment to the Borough and we are looking forward to continue to develop in the area.”
Tony O’Brien, UK Development Director of Travelodge Hotels, said: “The scale of development in the area means that Barking and Dagenham really is the place to be.
“We will be opening another hotel at Dagenham Leisure Park shortly, so this is our second hotel in the area.
“With the major residential and commercial developments planned in the borough, we believe that now is the time to invest in area.
“The new hotel at Dagenham East will serve the many existing and new businesses that are establishing in the area and being within 200m of Dagenham East tube station and having good, on site car parking, it will provide a convenient, great value base for customers visiting the capital who don’t want to pay central London hotel prices.
“With comfort cooling, a bar Café, on-site parking and the adjacent Costa Coffee Café and the Pipe Major pub/restaurant, this will be a great place to stay.”
The new hotel will also feature a ground floor restaurant, and Berkeley will develop a Costa drive-through outlet.
The hotel is due to be built in 2019
