Qatari deal could turn US Embassy into luxury hotel

The United States has agreed to sell its embassy building in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, to a Qatari sovereign wealth-backed developer for an undisclosed sum.

The US State Department said yesterday that it would sell the Chancery building, home to the US Embassy in Britain for almost half a century, to Qatari Diar, a real estate investment company owned by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).

The Qatari investment group has not yet given full details of its plans for the site, but it is thought to be planning a luxury hotel and residential apartments. Chelsfield Partners, run by Sir Stuart Lipton and Elliott Bernerd and 20 per cent-owned by QIA, will be development partners on the project.