Laundy family, Karedis pick off Crowne Plaza Terrigal

Heavyweight pub investors the Laundy family and Greg Karedis have purchased the beachfront Crowne Plaza Terrigal hotel on the NSW central coast for about $60 million, while an Asian-backed investor is poised to fork out $300 million for the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf.

The Crowne Plaza purchase will see the Laundy and Karedis clans bulk up their extensive portfolio of hotels and pubs on the east coast.

The wealthy investors snapped up the 176-room Sheraton Noosa last year for $110 million and have held Sydney’s Manly Pacific Hotel since 2003.

Karedis is the son of Theo Karedis, who launched the Theo’s Liquor chain that sold out to Coles in 2002 for $175 million in cash and shares. Arthur Laundy is a BRW Rich Lister and respected pub investor.

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With 199 rooms, the four-star Crowne Plaza Terrigal is the biggest hotel on the central coast, and underwent a $10.6 million refurbishment between 2010 and 2014.

Developed in 1988, the resort was offloaded by Eureka Funds Management and will remain under a management deal with the Intercontinental Hotel Group operating as a Crowne Plaza until 2020 with a 10-year option. Management fees are 2% of adjusted gross revenues plus an incentive fee of 8% of adjusted gross operating profit.

Eureka Funds Management purchased the Crowne Plaza in 2005, with the purchase including more than 9300sqm of freehold land, as part of a $400 million portfolio deal with Intercontinental ­Hotels Group. Eureka has disposed of more than $500 million worth of property as its fund nears the end of its fixed term.

The Crowne Plaza Terrigal has sold for around $60 million.

The purchase of the Crowne Plaza Terrigal, which includes a gaming lounge with 21 pokies and 20 retail units leased to third parties, is in line with the Karedis and Laundy purchases of the Sheraton Noosa and the Manly Pacific Hotel.

All three properties are waterfront, sporting significant parcels of land.

Selling agents included CBRE’s Wayne Bunz and Rob Cross and Ray White’s Andrew Jolliffe. Bunz confirmed the sale but would not divulge the sale price.

The slowing Australian dollar is helping the domestic leisure tourism industry, with average occupancies at the Crowne Plaza Terrigal jumping from 69.7% in 2012 to 73.35% in 2014. In the past three years average daily rates have jumped from $194 to $208.

Food and beverage accounts for more than 50% of the resort’s revenue.

Attention is now turning to the sale process for the Singapore-listed Ascendas Hospitality Trust, which owns a series of hotels across the Asia-Pacific, including six luxury properties in Australia.

US group Varde is competing against separate bids from Blackstone Group and Gaw Capital Partners for the $1.34 billion portfolio.

Ascendas says it is “evaluating proposals”.

This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.