Westcombe Wins Consent for £20m Hotel Indigo Conversion in Hampton Wick

The Westcombe Group has secured planning approval for a £20m conversion that will turn a former student accommodation block into a five-star Hotel Indigo and 22 new homes.

The site is Kingston Bridge House in Hampton Wick, within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Westcombe's in-house construction division will oversee the works, which start on site in January.

The scheme marks a shift for a building that has stood vacant, and for a developer better known in construction circles than in hospitality. Vacant student rooms out; a luxury brand and housing in. That's the trade.

What does the approval actually deliver?

The project packages three uses into one consented conversion:

• A five-star Hotel Indigo, operated under IHG's boutique brand
• 22 new homes
• An element of affordable housing within the residential offer

Kamal Pankhania, Chief Executive Officer of Westcombe Group, framed the scheme as a local economic play rather than a straightforward property deal.

He said: "We are transforming a formerly vacant building into new homes, affordable housing and a five-star luxury hotel that will bring jobs, prosperity and thousands of visitors into the local area each year."

Hampton Wick sits at the edge of Kingston upon Thames, a stretch of southwest London where hotel supply is thinner than in the West End and where a five-star flag is a genuine statement of intent rather than a rounding error on a portfolio.

Why IHG, and why now?

The choice of operator is the more revealing part of the announcement. Hotel Indigo is IHG's boutique label, and Pankhania made clear he sees this scheme as the opening move in a longer partnership rather than a one-off build.

He said: "IHG is one of the most respected names in global hospitality and we see this project as marking the start of a long and successful relationship between our two businesses, here in the UK and overseas."

That is an ambitious read for a single £20m conversion. But converting vacant student accommodation into a branded hotel plus housing is currently one of the more dependable routes through a difficult planning and financing climate, and Westcombe is keeping the construction in-house to protect margins.

What happens next?

Work begins in January. Westcombe will deliver the conversion through its own construction division, with the hotel and the 22 homes emerging on a site that had been sitting empty.

If the IHG relationship holds, expect Westcombe's name to appear again beside the Hotel Indigo flag, in the UK and, on Pankhania's own account, overseas.