Lindeman Island owner makes $110m Sydney CBD swoop amid hotel boom
The Pitt St site in Sydney, was bought by Well Smart Investment Holdings for $110m.
Singapore’s acquisitive Well Smart Investment Holdings has paid $110m for a major holding in Sydney’s Pitt St to develop a city hotel with a strong emphasis on food and beverage after recently offloading two Melbourne properties for $170m.
The outfit, led by wealthy Singapore-based Jack Jia, recently also purchased dilapidated Lindeman Island in Queensland at a bargain-basement price of $10m after selling the dual-branded 472-key Novotel and Ibis Melbourne Central Hotel in Melbourne.
That property was bought for $170m by a unit of Singapore’s Worldwide Hotels Group, giving it an exposure to Melbourne’s accommodation market.
On Lindeman Island, which was bought from Chinese cable television operator White Horse, Mr Jia plans to redevelop the existing Club Med resort.
Well Smart Investment Holdings also recently bought Lindeman Island for the bargain basement price of $10m.
In Sydney, Mr Jia’s most recent purchase is the Pitt St site from joint venture partners ICD Property and Belingbak, which had abandoned plans to develop a $500m hotel and residential tower on the site after assembling around six parties who controlled eight separate sites.
The vendor parties, which included a publican family, had expected the site to sell for around $120m.
The sale was negotiated by CBRE Hotels agents Tom Gibson and Michael Simpson in conjunction with Knight Frank. The parties and agents declined to comment.
A development application for the site including a 301-room hotel and 17 residences is approved for the site but it is understood Mr Jia plans to build the hotel with a strong emphasis on a ground-floor food and beverage component. He will not attempt the residential part of the approved planning application.
The hotel is expected to be a four-star to 4½-star property and the deal is expected to settle by early October.
Vendor Belingbak took about 12 months to amalgamate the eight sites creating the 1300sq m holding, which stretches from 372 Pitt St to 382 Pitt St.
The resort on Lindeman Island is in a derelict state after it was abandoned following Cyclone Yasi in 2011. The new owner plans to redevelop the dilapidated Club Med. Picture: Red Livermore
The downtown city site lies between a 17-storey strata office building known as The Chambers and the Ibis Sydney World Square owned by hotel tycoon Jerry Schwartz.
The site is also near the $3bn Tech Central redevelopment.
Mr Jia has yet to appoint a hotel operator for the proposed hotel site.
ICD Property has been busy elsewhere, signing a deal with SH Hotels & Resorts – an affiliate of global firm Starwood Capital Group – to bring the Treehouse Hotel brand to the $400m Market Square development in Adelaide. The move followed a competitive hotel operator campaign on which hotel consultant Axsia HTL advised.
ICD Property deputy managing director Sal Quah said the hotel “will create a one-of-a-kind hotel experience for Adelaide that blends seamlessly with the lively atmosphere of Market Square”.
