iProsperity leads race for Melbourne’s Pullman on the Park
Diversified wealth management outfit iProsperity is targeting Melbourne’s Pullman on the Park in a deal topping $200 million.
The Chinese-backed private equity and property firm has rapidly earned the moniker of one of the country’s top hotel owners, building up a hospitality portfolio worth about $1.8 billion, including its stake in the $1 billion SB&G Hotel Group that owns property in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne.
Now the company is looking to snap up the Pullman in Melbourne’s largest hotel deal this year. The hotel was listed by Brookfield Asset Management earlier this year and if the deal proceeds, it would eclipse the recent $157 million sale of Melbourne’s Bell City complex to Gaw Capital.
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The five-star Pullman at 192 Wellington Rd, East Melbourne, has 419 rooms, conference facilities, a 1000-person ballroom and parking for 215 cars.
The sale is being handled by real estate firms JLL Hotels and McVay Real Estate but they declined to comment.
The Pullman on the Park. Picture: Rebecca Michael.
The Pullman was known as the Hilton on the Park until 2015. Its sale program drew interest from local and offshore investors, including potential buyers from Singapore and Hong Kong. The hotel sports views of the CBD and neighbouring Fitzroy Gardens.
The new owner could benefit from a recent $12.5 million refurbishment of the five-star Pullman’s bar and lobby, which sits near the MCG. Vacant possession could be requested by iProsperity, or it could seek to retain operator Accor, which has a management agreement over the hotel.
Ranked among the top-10 hotel owners in Australia, iProsperity controls a portfolio including the Novotel Glen Waverley in Melbourne and other hotels in prime locations across major cities under the InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Park Regis brands.
Other property assets include Century City Walk Melbourne, 333 Kent St in the Sydney CBD and leasehold commercial property Chatswood Central in Sydney.
The iProsperity group also backs the SB&G Hotel Group, the specialist property fund manager, led by brothers Paul and Robert Salter. Brookfield declined to comment on the proposed sale.
– with Ben Wilmot
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
