Funds management giant Charter Hall has struck the biggest pub deal of the year so far after agreeing to buy Austral Hotel in Mackay for about $25 million. The pub, which includes a Dan Murphy’s liquor barn on almost half a hectare of land on Victoria Street in the centre of Mackay, was sold by Gold Coast investor Lotana Property, led by Brisbane developer Alex Jacques, the owner of Aludra Development. Lotana Property was in the news this week after it bought the Coles Orana on the Albany Highway in regional WA for $22.8 million on a yield of 5.66 per cent. Mr Jacques paid $19 million for the Austral Hotel in 2013. The hotel is operated by Woolworths-backed ALH Group, one of the country’s biggest pub operators with a portfolio of over 300 venues and over 550 retail liquor outlets. Woolworths also owns the Dan Murphy’s liquor store chain.
February 8, 2019
A landmark business in Oamaru’s Victorian Precinct is up for sale. The Criterion Hotel – the establishment housed in the Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust-owned 1877 landmark hotel in Tyne St – has been listed through LJ Hooker Oamaru. Lessee Sue Cameron-Duncan, who bought the business from Oamaru restaurateur Sally-Ann Donnelly in 2016, declined to comment yesterday. The advertisement called the sale of the business a “fantastic opportunity for a couple with great people skills who have a desire to provide awesome service and enjoy being part of a very friendly community”.
February 8, 2019
After 20 years with the same owners, the Tuggerah Shore Van Park at Tuggerawong has been listed for sale with a price guide of $5.6 million. The property includes 5.22ha, with about 1.8ha currently used as a caravan park, 65 approved sites, pool and modern manager’s residence.
February 6, 2019
One of the last dowager hotels of Sydney, the landmark Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, is about to hit the market as it faces increasing competition from rival hoteliers across the city. The move by Singapore’s Frasers Hospitality Trust to sell the historic Sydney CBD property, which could be worth more than $400 million, comes during a busy period when more than $1 billion worth of hotels are expected to change hands. The Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, which sits in the heart of Sydney’s central business district, was picked up by Frasers Centrepoint in 2014 for $202.7 million from US group LaSalle Investment Management and has been held in an offshore hotel real estate investment trust ever since. The forthcoming marketing campaign will be the first significant test of the city’s hospitality market for years as no luxury five-star hotels in the CBD have traded since a rush of purchases by Chinese groups five years ago when they swooped on the Sheraton on the Park, the Hilton and Westin Sydney. Sydney hotel investors were this week querying the price the Wentworth would fetch, saying five-star rooms are worth $1 million each. However, they note that some of the Wentworth rooms are smaller than the average and are used by flight attendants. Fronting Phillip St, the Wentworth sports 436 rooms, a restaurant, club lounge and conference facilities as well as one of Sydney’s largest pillarless ballrooms. “Who knows? Each of the 436 rooms could be worth $1 million,” one hotelier says. Meanwhile, owners are capitalising on rising domestic tourism as holiday-makers stay at home and international travellers take advantage of the low dollar, which has increased demand for rooms. Hotel investors are simultaneously looking to sell out of purchases made earlier in the property cycle. Chinese buying has since dried up as mainland groups shy away from luxury hotels after Chinese government edicts that they focus on less glitzy property assets and instead focus on core business. While the Asian groups paid big prices for the hotel properties they bought five years ago, values have since shot up as demand for accommodation in Sydney has lifted. This has prompted a wave of hotel developments that could put room rates under pressure, but the Wentworth is considered among the top hotels in Sydney as it competes with new players such as the Sofitel Darling Harbour. Frasers also refurbished the Wentworth’s rooms and won development approval for a rooftop bar and restaurant on level five of the hotel. Expressions of interest close through JLL Hotels on March 14. The group, which has tapped Craig Collins of JLL Hospitality & Hotels to handle the sale, has chosen a busy time to sell the long-held asset. More than $1 billion worth of hotel properties are changing hands with deals being struck from the top end to the budget spectrum. Chinese-backed iProsperity Group is in the process of buying the budget end AccorInvest portfolio for more than $260m. The AccorInvest holdings comprises 23 properties and leased interests in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Perth, along with several major regional cities. Assets include the ibis Hotel & Apartments Melbourne, ibis Sydney Airport, ibis Budget Sydney Olympic Park and ibis Newcastle. The six lease interests include the Como Melbourne MGallery by Sofitel, the Novotel, Mercure and ibis hotels in Brisbane and the Mercure and ibis hotels in Perth. Other major players are also pushing into the Australian market. French giant AXA Investment Managers-Real Assets is closing a deal to buy three hotels at Sydney Olympic Park and a fourth in Canberra for about $350 million. The purchase is the largest the AXA investment unit has made in Australian property since it bought the Eureka funds business two years ago. AXA is buying the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s 177-room Novotel Sydney Olympic Park, 212-room Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park and 144-room ibis Sydney Olympic Park. The carve-up of the late construction tycoon Len Buckeridge’s property empire has also kicked off with the sale of the Aloft Perth hotel, and an office complex, for $100 million to Singapore’s Hiap Hoe. Interests associated with Malaysia’s YTL Corp are also closing in on the Westin Perth for about $200 million.
February 6, 2019
Sydney-based Equinox Property Group has snapped up to two Victorian tourist parks for $5.75 million. Equinox struck off-market deals for Benalla Tourist Park, at 115 Sydney Road, Benalla, and Healesville Lifestyle Village, at 322 Don Road, Badger Creek. Equinox’s Brett Summers said the group saw revenue growth for both assets and the opportunity for further infill development of permanent homes. The 4.07-hectare Benalla Tourist Park is two hours from Melbourne and has 30 permanent residents and 90 short stay sites. Haven at Healesville Lifestyle Village is in the the Yarra Valley with 40 permanent residents and 23 short stay sites. It sits on 2.6 hectares. CBRE’s Andrew Jackson negotiated the transactions.
February 6, 2019
The Travelodge in the central Queensland city of Rockhampton has been bought by Chinese investors for up to $7 million from the Tucker Box Hotel Trust, a joint venture between Mirvac and NRMA.
February 6, 2019
Malaysia’s YTL Corporation has snapped up The Westin Perth for over $200 million, one of the biggest hotel sales in the West Australian capital. Perth-based developer and construction group BGC, founded by the late Len Buckeridge, confirmed it had sold the hotel to two subsidiaries within YTL’s hotel division, Starhill Hotel (Perth) and Starhill Hotel Operator (Perth) on Tuesday. BGC had developed the five-star Westin hotel, a 368-room luxury hotel at 1 Hibernian Lane in the east side of the Perth CBD with 28 furnished suites, the signature restaurant in ‘Garum’ by celebrated chef Guy Grossi, and 1700sq m of conference and meeting space. The Westin sale follows another recent sale by the group, the sale of Aloft Perth to Singaporean group Hiap Hoe for over $100 million in November. Operations remain unchanged with the Marriott International continuing to manage both the Westin and the Aloft. BGC director Sam Buckeridge said the sale had freed up more than $300 million in capital for re-deployment for the company. “We are very proud to have created two of Perth’s best hotel offerings, combining BGC Construction’s commitment to quality with Marriott’s fantastic service delivery,” Mr Buckeridge said. JLL’s Mark Durran brokered the sale.
February 6, 2019
American hospitality giant Delaware North is toying with a plan to sell the 40-suite Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef to KSL Capital-controlled Baillie Lodges, which has embarked on a national expansion plan. The on-again, off-again deal for the private equity player to buy Lizard Island is in line with Baillie Lodges’ strategy to establish a national network of upmarket luxury lodges. It is already represented on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island, on NSW’s Lord Howe Island and in Queensland’s Daintree, having recently bought Silky Oaks Lodge for more than $15 million. Baillie Lodges founder and chairman James Baillie says Lizard Island will be a great addition to his portfolio of properties, which includes the flagship Southern Ocean Lodge and Longitude 131 in the shadow of Uluru. “Lizard would be an amazing addition. We have been looking at a whole range of acquisitions including Lizard,” Baillie said.
