City Studios

Unicorn House is part of a large site adjacent to Garstang Road and North Road in Preston. The site concept is an urban serviced village which already incorporates a brand-new upscale student accommodation building containing 126 studio apartments and substantial retail space. City Studios, Preston offers a serviced apartment scheme to corporate clients and those requiring a more cost-effective shorter term living solution than is currently provided in the local market.

Siting firmly between hotel and private rental accommodation, City Studios offers a luxurious living space with the independence of self-catering facilities and the convenience of 24hr service without excessive costs or long tenancy agreements. A blend of short term and contractual stays targeting a variety of customers, City Studios has plans to build and manage serviced accommodation schemes in a number of UK cities over the coming years.

North West Universty

The University of Central Lancashire main campus is located in Preston; a mid-tier University providing high quality teaching across the North West. The demand for beds in the city centre has outstripped supply especially at this mid-tier level from, tutors, graduating students and in particular medical students on short term contracts with the University hospital and engineering students at BAE. The demand for beds has outstripped supply, especially at this mid tier level. There is a shortage of luxury, boutique hotels, serviced accommodation and residential accommodation suited to shorter term stays.

Investment

On discussion with a leading hospitality research company and several large organisations operating in the area, the proposition for City Studios is to address the lack of luxury short term accommodation in the City Centre. Given this opportunity the scheme is better suited to an upscale serviced apartment/aparthotel product to optimise positioning and performance. Major expansion within the city incl £200-£250m investment into infrastructure and high tech engineering buildings over the next 10 years with large investment from BAE. Traces of Preston’s industrial past can be seen in its historic Docklands district and steam train railways, while the city centre mixes the old and new, with glass-fronted shopping malls flanked by elegant Georgian townhouses.

Easy Access

Easy access by road and rail network to the North West, M6, Lake District. Easy access to Blackpool, Liverpool and Manchester Airport for travel overseas. Preston was recently voted the 12th best place to live and work in the whole of the U.K. by Sarah Beeny and her team on her recent Channel 4 program UK’s best place to live. This is very impressive when you consider there are 1067 towns and cities in England alone. Further more South Ribble was voted the best place to live in the U.K. In fact areas near by featured in the top 20 four times.The Program looked at many different variables, such as quality of available schools, average house prices, job opportunities average incomes to name but a few.

Demans Outstrips Supply

The scheme comprises multiple amenity spaces including reception, lounge, library, games rooms, meeting facilities and a food & beverage area. The city centre is in close proximity and is approximately a 10-miute walk. In addition, the property is surrounded by multiple business and retail parks. Preston is a regional UK city and is home to several blue-chip companies such as BAE Systems, Fox Biscuits and Homesave. There is shortage of quality accommodation in the city a gap for an apart-hotel style offering.

Getting Around Preston on Foot

University of Central Lancashire 10 Mins

Preston Town Centre 15 Mins

Shopping Areas 10 Mins

Superstore - 40 Mins

Train Station - 20 Mins

Bus Station - 15 Mins

Parks & Open Spaces - 5 / 35 Mins

Cinema - 25 Mins 

Gyms & Sports - 5 / 30 Mins

Travel Times Average Times by Train

London - 2 Hrs 52 Mins

Leeds - 1 Hr 47 Mins

Manchester - 47 Mins

Birmingham - 1 Hr 33 Mins

Liverpool - 56 Mins

Nottingham - 4 Hrs 12 Mins

Newcastle - 4 Hrs 13 Mins