Robert De Niro: Nobu reveals major London plans amid UK push
Robert De Niro’s hospitality brand is open to considering new luxury residences in London after the success of its restaurants and hotel, the firm’s co-founders have exclusively told Morning Wire.
Nobu Hospitality first launched in London in 1997 with a restaurant at Old Park Lane.
That was followed by a hotel and restaurant in Portman Square at the end of 2020.
Now, with work starting on its first UK location outside of the capital, Nobu’s co-founders have revealed their thinking for a possible third London site for the first time.
Meir Teper, the American-Israeli film producer, said a third London site would be focused on Nobu-branded residences instead of featuring a restaurant and hotel so as not to compete with the existing locations.
While no firm decisions have been made this point, Nobu views the UK as a growth area and is also open to looking at other UK cities apart from London and Manchester for future projects.
Skyscraper to be one of UK’s tallest
The co-founders, Robert De Niro, Meir Teper and chef Nobu – as well as CEO Trevor Horwell – were speaking to Morning Wire to mark the start of work of the firm’s first UK location outside of London.
The £360m, Viadux 2 development, will be constructed in the Deansgate area of central Manchester.
Rising to 76-storeys, the skyscraper will be the tallest of its kind in the UK when finished in six years’ time.
The development also includes another 23-storey tower and is being constructed by Salboy, a developer co-founded by Betfred billionaire, Fred Done.
When complete, the 76-storey landmark will include a Nobu-branded, 160-room hotel, 450 residences and a restaurant located in converted Victorian railway arches.
The building will join the ranks of a raft of skyscrapers which have been constructed in that area of Manchester in the last decade, completely transforming the skyline of the city.
The tower will the third tallest in the country, behind The Shard and 22 Bishopgate in London.
The title of the tallest residential skyscraper in the country is currently held by The Landmark Pinnacle in Tower Hamlets, which stands at 233 metres.
Nobu considering other UK cities
While Nobu has been in the UK for almost 30 years, the Manchester project is its first outside London.
When asked why it had taken so long for the company to expand outside of the capital, Teper said: “Usually investors approach us and Trevor has been talking to people here in Manchester for quite a few years.
“Trevor knows the area very well. He told us how great it could be here and how Manchester is developing and it’s the right time to come here.”
Teper added that the Nobu was open to considering other UK cities for a future project.
“We have to make sure that any destination that we go to the locals embrace the concept and so forth.
“And I think potentially maybe one or two of the cities in the UK. But slowly, we’ll see what happens.”
De Niro and Fred Done FaceTime seals the deal
Throughout a press conference on Tuesday and subsequent interview with Morning Wire, it became clear that De Niro was not fully briefed on the merits of Manchester as a destination.
Apologising repeatedly for his lack of knowledge about the city, De Niro said: “I wish I had done a little research or asked some basic things to know about Manchester.”
What seems to have won the Oscar-winner around was a FaceTime between Betfred billionaire, and Salboy co-founder, Fred Done.
When asked why he decided to pick the Salboy development for the next Nobu location, De Niro said: “What I heard from everybody is that it’s a good place to do something.
“It’s an ambitious project, but really the city itself is really up and coming, moving and doing very well.
“So I spoke to Fred Done. We FaceTimed each other and these guys said it’s a good place. And that was it.”
CEO Trevor Horwell added: “We met with Fred and Simon [Ismail – Salboy co-founder and managing director]. It was really their vision and we were very intrigued with what they were doing.
“And Manchester – everything they are doing, especially Fred, is for the betterment of the city.
“I know Manchester because in a way it’s a hometown to me. I was born not far away and I’ve seen the development.
“I’ve seen the passion coming and I think it’s the right time now.”
De Niro: ‘Trump won’t stop me investing in US’
Robert De Niro is a long-time opponent of US President Donald Trump, regularly speaking out against his actions and policies.
When asked if the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would stop him wanting Nobu to invest in the US and focus more overseas, De Niro said: “At this point I don’t see that part of it [Trump] being a problem.
“There are a lot of problems but that’s not one.”
Manchester brand like ‘Coke and Google’
Speaking during a press conference as part of the event, Salboy co-founder and managing director Simon Ismail asserted that “Manchester is as big a brand as Coca-Cola or Google”.
He added that the city is an “international brand” and that the 76-storey skyscraper would become Manchester’s new landmark.
Ismail said: “We’re not gong to get a tower like this again. What’s happening in Manchester is special.”
When it was approved earlier this year, the Manchester skyscraper was due to be the tallest of its kind outside of London – beating the 71-storey tower given the green light in the city in August 2024.
However, plans for a 78-storey skyscraper in Salford were approved last week to take the presumptive total away from De Niro’s development.
Addressing the rival tower the Salboy chief said: “That will never be delivered – not in my lifetime.”
While saying that there was “no rivalry” between the two projects, Ismail said the business behind the project, Henley Investment Management, was “an investment company” which has “never built anything” and “never been here”.