Asian firm gets lucky with $73,666,666.66 Novotel purchase
A Sydney-based financial advisory firm for wealthy Asian investors, iProsperity Group, has bought the Novotel Melbourne Glen Waverley, as the value of suburban hotels jumps.
The group paid $73,666,666.66 for the hotel, another symbolic price after its recent acquisition of 333 Kent St in Sydney for $88,888,888. Both 6 and 8 are considered lucky numbers in Chinese culture.
The Novotel Melbourne Glen Waverley was sold by a private syndicate led by businessmen Phil Green and Greg Shand, who had owned the property for 20 years.
Return to form: Asian buyers continue march into Melbourne
It is currently leased to Accor Asia Pacific under a triple-net lease expiring in July 2018 and iProsperity could look to rebrand the property in coming years.
“The unique offering of a limited fixed-lease term with vacant possession thereafter resulted in strong interest from owner-operators and investors having existing relationships with hotel management companies,” says Colliers International’s Gus Moors, who handled the sale along with colleagues Guy Wells and Neil Scanlan.
“The near-term vacant possession allows the incoming purchaser the option of retaining Accor or changing the branding and/or operating entity of the hotel.”
The Novotel in Glen Waverley has sold to iProsperity.
The property at 285 Springvale Rd comprises 200 rooms, a bar and restaurant, flexible meeting space, gym, indoor pool and underground parking for about 100 cars. It is the only internationally branded upscale hotel east of Melbourne’s CBD and St Kilda.
The sale reflects solid buyer demand in the Melbourne hotel market, with major hotels a rarely offered asset type in recent years, Moors says.
IProsperity, led by Michael Gu, claims to be “Australia’s most trusted bespoke advisory for Asian investors” and specialises in providing “worry-free” investment services for Asian investors.
The group partnered with China-based institutional fund manager Bridge Capital to buy Sydney’s 333 Kent St in September.
– with Maggie Lu Yueyang
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
