Mondrian Bucharest will be located on 8-10 Georges Clemenceau Street, near the Romanian Athénée, where One United Properties had bought in Dec 2022, for EUR13.5 million, an unfinished building, planning to reauthorize and complete the construction, and turn it into a luxurious lifestyle hotel (formerly announced as One Plaza Athénée).
“The exclusive negotiations with Ennismore, the fastest-growing lifestyle hospitality company in the world, target the opening of Mondrian Bucharest, a stylish, modern and luxurious hotel, with chic design and vibrant social scene. This will be a significant milestone in redefining luxury and the hotel landscape in Bucharest and marks our company’s debut on the hospitality market. Mondrian Bucharest will become for sure a landmark for the city and will help increase tourism to our capital and to our country. This collaboration is a statement of our commitment to growing the attractiveness of Bucharest as a European capital“, said Victor Capitanu, Co-CEO One United Properties.
Mondrian Hotel opened first in 1985 in Los Angeles as the Le Mondrian by the L’Ermitage Hotel Group, and was later purchased by Ian Schrager and his Morgans Hotel Group in 1996 and renamed Mondrian Hotel Los Angeles. As of 2021, the Mondrian brand of hotels, including its flagship in Los Angeles, has been managed by Ennismore, following a joint venture with Accor, which holds a majority ownership stake.
Mondrian is present in Los Angeles, New York, South Miami Beach, Doha, Cannes, London, Bordeaux, Singapore, Mexico City, Ibiza and Seoul, and will open soon in Australia’s Gold Coast and Hong Kong.
Starting with February 2024, Riad Abi Haidar will join the company as partner in the Hotel Division. A passionate hotelier, executive director, strategic thinker, and entrepreneurial leader, Riad Abi Haidar has over 20 years of experience in the international hospitality industry, developing and operating unique lifestyle hotels in the Middle East and south Asia. With an outstanding ability to create innovative guest experiences, Riad Abi Haidar brings extensive international experience and strong hospitality know-how. “I am proudly joining this project of potentially bringing the Mondrian brand with Ennismore to a market with great potential as Romania. Mondrian is not just a hotel; it’s a lifestyle brand, promising a new era of sophisticated experiences and elevated living. I am excited to come here and contribute with my expertise in market development, while making Bucharest and Romania more internationally known.”
The project is part of One United Properties’ effort to contribute not only to urban regeneration, but also to making Bucharest an attractive destination for tourists and locals alike. On the same street, Georges Clemenceau, the company is currently restoring a historical building, the Braikoff House, which will be known as One Athénée after the complete renovation and will positively impact the whole area near the Romanian Athénée.
In 2022, One United Properties expanded efforts in landmark restoration, with the acquisition of One Downtown, (including the former Hotel Muntenia), and the former Ford factory, located within One Floreasca City, which is currently undergoing restoration and will be transformed into a retail space, called One Gallery, positioning itself as one of the largest individual investments in restoring a protected building in Romania. In total, the Gross Development Value for the restoration portfolio of the company is estimated at EUR189 million.