The Fantauzzo Brisbane hotel sold for $75m
Syrian multi-billionaire Ghassan Aboud has further bolstered his Australian hospitality portfolio by buying one of Brisbane’s newest hotels in a $75m deal.
Aboud’s Crystalbrook Collection has acquired the Accor-managed The Fantauzzo Brisbane – Art Series Hotel in an off-market deal, buying it from its Melbourne developer, Deague Group.
Located beneath Brisbane’s Story Bridge overlooking the $200m Howard Smith Wharves, the contemporary hotel sports 166 rooms and suites and a rooftop pool.
The acquisitive Mr Aboud last year bought retail billionaire Gerry Harvey’s prized 92-suite Byron at Byron resort on the NSW north coast for $41.7m, ending an era for the retailer who developed the resort and spa in 2005. The resort, set amid 18ha of subtropical rainforest just outside Byron Bay, was listed for sale in May last year by Harvey and a Harvey Norman subsidiary.
In Brisbane, The Fantauzzo selling agent CBRE Hotels’ national director Wayne Bunz ran the off-market transaction on behalf of the Deague Group.
Bunz said The Fantauzzo was already recording strong weekend occupancies, underpinned by its location in one of Australia’s more successful entertainment precincts, Howard Smith Wharves.
“This deal represents the first major Australian hotel sale in 2020 during COVID-19, signalling that investors anticipate a recovery in the hotel sector,” Mr Bunz said in a statement.
The acquisition marks Crystalbrook’s first entry into the Brisbane market and adds to its assets in Sydney, Cairns, Newcastle, Port Douglas and Byron Bay.
Bunz said Queensland, and Brisbane in particular, was the most sought-after hotel investment market in Australia, with further transactions pending.
“Brisbane owners are well positioned to capitalise on a hotel market recovery, given the city’s limited supply pipeline, with only the Queens Wharf and Hotel Indigo projects set to open in the near term,” Bunz said.
Deague developed several Quest Serviced Apartments nationally and converted the former PANCH hospital in Melbourne into an 850-plus room hotel before launching the Art Series brand and developing eight boutique properties throughout Australia.
Deague chief executive Will Deague said the developer was “pleased to have sold this truly 5-star property to a group that will celebrate the architecture and vibrant precinct of Howard Smith Wharves”.
The property recently won Queensland’s top award for commercial architecture, and celebrates photorealist painter Vincent Fantauzzo, with up to 300 of his works and digital prints on display throughout the hotel.
The handover will occur in the first half of 2021.
Upon handover, the hotel will trade under Crystalbrook Collection, with its new name to be announced in the coming months.
Until the acquisition is complete, the hotel will continue trading under the management of Art Series Hotels.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
