Criterion Capital Set To Ramp Up London Hotel Portfolio With Department Store Conversion

Morleys department store in Tooting, which closed in April after its independent owners said they could no longer justify the cost of maintaining and modernising it, is now in the conversion queue.

The building will be repurposed into a 92-bedroom hotel by Criterion Capital, the property group headed by billionaire investor Asif Aziz. 

Criterion, which owns assets across the capital, operates the windowless Zedwell hotel chain.

Wandsworth Council approved the redevelopment despite local opposition and calls for the site to be used for housing. The former south London department store had been in business for more than 70 years. 

The redevelopment will retain part of the ground floor for retail use. Planning officers said the scheme would create jobs and support local economic growth by adapting a building that would otherwise be difficult to reuse.

However, more than 400 residents signed a petition objecting to the plans, expressing concerns that the site could ultimately be used as temporary accommodation rather than a hotel.

Labour councillor Sean Lawless said the concerns stemmed from a previous Tooting development that had been approved as a hotel but later converted for temporary housing.

Planning officer Nigel Granger said the building could not be used for something other than a hotel without a separate application and “major physical changes,” adding that independent assessments had found permanent housing on the site would not be financially viable.

Founded in 1995, Criterion Capital’s Zedwell portfolio is concentrated in central London, where it operates two hotels in Piccadilly Circus, including a recently opened 1,000-capsule-bed hotel. It also has properties on Tottenham Court Road, on Great Russell Street, at Cavatina Point and in Knightsbridge, where it opened this year in the Scotch House building on Brompton Road.

The group is expanding beyond the capital, with new hotels planned in Manchester’s Royal Buildings and on Edinburgh’s Princes Street, its first Scottish location.

Positioned as a design-led, midmarket brand, Zedwell focuses on high-density city centre sites with a stripped-back concept that the company said prioritises sleep quality and well-being over luxury amenities.

Criterion has not yet confirmed whether the property will operate under the Zedwell brand.