Pandemic sparks push for health hotels
Strategic investment firm Boston Global is using the pandemic to actively look for opportunities to develop boutique hotels in medical precincts.
The move comes as Boston announces a luxury boutique hotel alongside western Sydney’s Nepean Hospital, to complement the precinct’s $1.1bn redevelopment by the NSW government.
Boston Global is part of the group of companies associated with the family of former Macquarie Bank property boss Bill Moss — who has dedicated much of the past decade to research the rare disorder facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy that affects him — and also has interests in structured finance, health and science, energy and funds.
On the property front, COVID-19 highlighted the importance of quality healthcare services, in Australia and overseas, said company managing director Corey Cooney.
He noted that the pandemic had created further opportunities to push into a space the firm had already been operating in.
The 140-room hotel at Nepean Hospital will be completed in collaboration with specialty healthcare providers to ensure patients, their visitors and hospital staff are catered for.
Cooney said the investment in the asset class makes sense in the COVID environment as it is a counter-cyclical asset, with the product linked to essential services and not reliant on uncertain property prices.
“We see that there is an ageing population and COVID has really highlighted the importance of medical infrastructure. It is counter cyclic — it is not something affected by recessions or linked to property prices,” he said.
“The Australian healthcare system needs improved infrastructure and we have identified the needs and are strategically planning our investments within medical precincts throughout Australia and New Zealand.”
The company is collaborating with key stakeholders at the Nepean Hospital to identify key amenities needed to improve the precinct for staff, patients and visitors.
Boston Global has a similar project further along in the development process linked to Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital at Paddington. The development application for the $32m revamp of a once-iconic Sydney pub outlines plans for a 101-room medical hotel on the Oxford Street site. The heritage-listed building will be raised to three storeys and include a rooftop bar.
International hotel operators are in talks with the investment firm about both projects, with an announcement likely to be made soon.
Several projects are currently in the works, with Boston Global seeking similar opportunities in Australia and New Zealand.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
