Zedwell York

Criterion Capital's Zedwell chain is converting York's Grade II-listed former TK Maxx on Coney Street into a windowless capsule hotel, its first foray into the city. Bought around March 2026, the project has no confirmed room count or opening date, and hinges on a planning permission that lapses in July 2026 if work doesn't start.

The place

48 Coney Street sits on one of York's busiest pedestrian shopping corridors, in the medieval core of the city between York Minster, the Shambles and the River Ouse. The four-storey, roughly 25,000 sq ft building's mock-Tudor facade is a landmark on a street that has struggled with retail vacancies in recent years.

The concept

Built in 1907, 48 Coney Street is a Grade II-listed former department store most recently occupied by TK Maxx, which closed in 2022. The site was earmarked in 2023 for a Hard Rock Cafe on the ground floor with a 64-room aparthotel above — planning permission for that scheme was granted in July 2023 — but the Hard Rock deal collapsed and the building was put on the market. Criterion Capital, the property group controlled by Asif Aziz, bought the building around March 2026 for its Zedwell hotel brand, marking the building's first-ever use as a hotel. Zedwell's format, seen at its roughly 1,000-pod Piccadilly Circus property in London, is built around small, soundproofed, windowless 'cocoon' sleeping pods plus shared lounges and bathrooms, aimed at low-cost, sleep-focused stays rather than a conventional upscale hotel product. As of mid-2026, Zedwell York Central Ltd had applied to change conditions attached to the 2023 permission ahead of starting work, with that permission due to lapse if construction has not begun by 13 July 2026.

Dining & wellness

Nothing has been confirmed for Zedwell's own scheme. The site's now-defunct 2023 permission included a ground-floor café as part of the abandoned Hard Rock Cafe plan, but Zedwell has not announced any food and beverage concept of its own.