Construction is due to start in early 2013 on the redevelopment of the Citicape House site which will be anchored by a new 213,500 sq ft hotel from luxury operator citizenM.
The Enquirer understands that the current long-list of bidders includes Balfour Beatty, BAM, Kier, Bowmer and Kirkland, Ardmore, Galliford Try, McLaren, Shepherd, Sisk, Skanska and Vinci.
One unsuccessful bidder said: “It’s quite a line-up which has made it through to the long list and it promises to be a tough fight because it’s a prime job for a fairly new and expanding client in the heart of London.”
The City of London Corporation granted planning permission for the scheme in May which also includes 116,250 sq ft of offices.
The hotel chain is working in a joint venture with site owners CHIL who will develop the office element of the scheme.
The development will comprise basement, ground and lower ground floor levels with eight upper office storeys and ten upper hotel levels.
A citizenM spokesman said: “The new citizenM hotel London St Paul’s will consist of 246 bedrooms and a vast public area on the ground floor. citizenM aims to start construction early 2013, with an expected opening post summer 2014.”
The development is citizenM’s fourth UK site, having opened a 198-bedroom hotel in Glasgow in 2010.
It is also due to open a 192-bedroom hotel on Lavington Street, SE1, near the Tate Modern, in the second quarter of this year.
The hotelier is in negotiations with Tower Hamlets council over plans for a 370-bedroom, nine-storey hotel at Tower Hill House at 38-40 Trinity Square, EC3.