For sale! Unique collection of freehold Bloomsbury properties offered by Colliers

A collection of properties known as the Bloomsbury Portfolio have been put on sale for an overall price of £37 million, with Colliers International inviting offers for either the entire collection or for individual properties.  

The eight freehold homes in Bloomsbury – one of London’s most fashionable and desirable areas for centuries – contain 250 rooms in total and until recently were used as staff accommodation by a London hotels operator.   

The properties range in size from a dozen bedrooms to 50 bedrooms, with prices ranging from £1.75 million to £10 million. Predominantly, they have planning consent for use as hotel or hostel accommodation, but also offer potential for a wide range of alternative uses subject to planning permission. 

Colliers International – the hotel sector specialist representing the private owner on the sale – is seeking offers for all eight homes, for groups of properties or for individual properties. 

Colin Hall, head of London Hotels Agency at Colliers International, said interest in the Bloomsbury Portfolio was expected to come from a wide variety of potential buyers, largely because of the extensive opportunities offered by the buildings and the fact that they are situated in a prime central London location. 

“It has taken our clients 40 years to assemble this portfolio, which now provides the very rare opportunity of eight freehold buildings becoming available at one time in the highly desirable neighbourhood of Bloomsbury,” Hall said. 

“These properties are in effect superb blank canvasses for future development across a range of uses, including boutique hotel accommodation, hostels/poshtels, offices and residential development.” 

He added: “Historically, Bloomsbury has enjoyed some of the highest hotel occupancy rates in London, and these properties would enable a new owner to develop hotel/hostel-type premises without having to purchase goodwill. For those interested in developing the buildings for other uses, the planning status on some is such that it is likely they could be repurposed if required.” 

Bloomsbury has long been renowned for its attractive leafy garden squares and its historic intellectual, medical and literary connections. It is especially well known as the area where the Bloomsbury Group of writers, artists, intellectuals and philosophers lived in the early part of the 20th century, among them Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes and E.M. Forster. Virginia Woolf lived on Tavistock Place, where two of the properties being sold by Colliers are situated. 

The area has strong transport links, with mainline railway stations close by at St Pancras International, Kings Cross and Euston, while it is also within walking distance of Oxford Circus and Bond Street.  

What’s more, Bloomsbury is home to the British Museum – one of the UK’s most visited attractions in normal times – as well as the University of London and University College London (UCL). 

The eight properties in the Bloomsbury Portfolio are as follows: 

Ferndale House 21-22 Argyle Square, London WC1H 8AS – Two adjoining buildings with 34 bedrooms. Guide price £4 million. 

Florida House 23-25 Argyle Square, London WC1H 8AS – Three adjoining buildings with 47 bedrooms. Guide price £6 million. 

27 Argyle Square, London WC1H 8HP – Single building with 12 bedrooms. Guide price £1.75 million. 

Oxford House 30 & 32 Tavistock Place, London WC1J 9SE –Two adjoining buildings with 27 bedrooms. Guide price £3.5 million. 

37 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SE – Single building with 12 bedrooms and small shop unit (currently let). Guide price £2 million. 

6 Coram Street, London WC1N 1HA – Substantial corner building with 21 bedrooms and 14 offices. Guide price £5.25 million. 

64-65 Guildford Street, London WC1N 1DD –Two adjoining buildings with circa 33 bedrooms. Guide price £4.5 million. 

William Martin Court, 65 Margery Street, London WC1X 0JL – Modern building with 51 bedrooms and basement car parking. Guide price £10 million.