Selfridges submits plans for £300m hotel, leisure and office complex

Selfridges has submitted a planning application to build a £300m hotel, leisure and office complex at the back of its flagship store on London's Oxford Street.

The group is planning to demolish the current Thistle hotel as well as the car park and office building and create a new development which Selfridges says will inject new life into the area.

The company is planning a 12-storey extension which will include a 336-bedroom hotel, 100,000 square feet of extra retailing space, a roof-top restaurant with panoramic views over London, a swimming pool and spa as well as a replacement car park and 300,000 square feet of office space.

The main Selfridges structure, which is a listed building dating back to 1909, will remain unaffected.

If planning permission is granted, Selfridges will knock down the existing structure with the redevelopment planned to be finished by mid-2007.

Selfridges plans to use the extra space to open a larger food hall as well as an improved sports shop and a new fashion section for teenage boys.

Stanhope, the developers will fund the redevelopment with Selfridges contributing about £50m for the fit-out of the retail section. Peter Williams, Selfridges' finance director, said: "Before Selfridges was built, Oxford Street was just a street with a few small shops and the real West End was on Queensway. Gordon Selfridge paved the way for Oxford Street to be a retail Mecca and we think this will act as a catalyst for further rejuvenation of the area."