Hotel. by Resort Brokers

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RESORTBROKERS hotels.

HOTEL (n) AN INDUSTRY PERIODICAL

PROVIDING INSIDERS WITH RECENT SALES,

hotel.

VALUABLE INSIGHTS & EMERGING TRENDS.

NUMBER ONE

ART SERIES HOTEL PORTFOLIO & BRAND SOLD FOR $52.5m

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Resort Brokers Australia was recently at the centre of a historymaking deal in the evolution of Australia’s hotel industry – the sale of the inspired Art Series Hotel Group to Mantra Group for $52.5 million. Founders of the Art Series Hotels, the Deague Group, engaged Resort Brokers exclusively to negotiate the

hotel amenities) added to ASXlisted Mantra Group’s existing 128-property portfolio. “It was gratifying to play a key role in what is an historic event in Australia’s changing and growing accommodation landscape – the passing of one premium hotel brand to another home-grown hotels titan,” Trudy Crooks said.

“That revered brand is retained by Mantra Group which, now with 135 properties, is the largest Australian-owned and locally-based hotel operator,” Tim said. The seven hotels involved in the sale were: The Cullen, Prahran, The Larwill Studio, North Melbourne, The Olsen, South Yarra, The Blackman,

off-market deal because of the agency’s specialist expertise across all facets of hotel operations, including leasehold businesses and management rights. Handled by agents Trudy Crooks and Tim Crooks, the sale saw seven luxury hotels (1,000+ guest rooms and a number of conference and event facilities, restaurants and luxury

Tim Crooks hailed the innovative success story of the Deague Group began when they opened their first Art Series Hotel, The Cullen, in 2009. Art Series Hotels, thanks to the drive and creativity of the Deague family, had grown into a very influential, high profile upscale brand spanning three states and showcasing Australia’s finest contemporary artists.

and The Chen, Box Hill, all in Melbourne, The Johnson, Spring Hill, Brisbane, and The Watson, Walkerville, Adelaide. The Art Series acquisition by Mantra settled in late 2017, with the official handover from Will Deague to Mantra Group CEO Bob East marked at Mantra’s official opening of a new Art Series Hotel, The Chen in Melbourne’s Box Hill.

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WE HAVE KNOWN AND WORKED WITH RESORT BROKERS OVER A LONG PERIOD AND HAVE ALWAYS FOUND THEM TO BE A CAPABLE AND ENERGETIC TEAM WITH A GOOD TRACK RECORD OF SUCCESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE ACCOMMODATION SECTOR.

Bob East . CEO / Mantra Group

resortbrokers.com.au

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AS A FAMILY-RUN BUSINESS, WE FELT AN AFFINITY WITH RESORT BROKERS AND WERE IMPRESSED BY THEIR TREMENDOUS ENERGY AND TENACITY. MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE KNEW THEY HAD THE SPECIFIC INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE TO HANDLE SUCH A COMPLEX DEAL.”

Will Deague CEO / Art Series Hotels

HOTEL FOCUS ADDRESSES SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME RESORT BROKERS AUSTRALIA HAS

HARNESSED ITS

SUCCESS ACROSS THE NATION’S BROADER ACCOMMODATION LANDSCAPE TO

LAUNCH A SPECIALIST HOTEL DIVISION CATERING TO

EMERGING TRENDS

IN A SHAPE-SHIFTING HOTEL MARKET.

“Our success as a nimble and creative advisor not wedded to purely traditional hotel solutions has encouraged us to launch a niche service focused on hotels, and particularly supporting the swelling investment pipeline that will fuel our tourism sector,” said Resort Brokers’ national sales

in the hotel space to pursue this lucrative direction,” Ms Crooks said. “We see it as a significant trend and Resort Brokers Hotels has been launched partly in response to this growing demand.” Senior broker Alex Cook says Resort Brokers’ specialist expertise and long-standing relationships with the leading hotel brands mean their expert team is skilled in selling or leasing a large proportion of new developments off-the-plan, boosting feasibility. “We work closely with developers right from feasibility stage, drawing on our extensive off-the-plan sales experience, contacts and detailed knowledge across all operational models,” he explained. “Furthermore, our longstanding experience selling established hotel businesses gives us the knowledge and intuition to quickly identify what operational model will be most suitable for each project we analyse.” Tourism Accommodation Australia CEO, Carol Guiseppi, has acknowledged Australia is in the midst of “the most extensive and all-encompassing hotel rejuvenation phase in our tourism history.”

manager, Trudy Crooks. “For example, to developers operating in a challenging residential apartment market, the strongly-performing hotel sector presents exciting opportunities. It is difficult now to get either a hotel or a purely residential development to stack up on its own. “So, incorporating a purposebuilt hotel component within a mixed-use development is the ideal solution to improve feasibility, increase returns across the project, and meet rising demand for new accommodation stock,” she said. Such solutions also perfectly address the emerging preference among many travellers, notably the growing millennials market, for ‘lifestyle hotel’ concepts. “Because of our experience and skill set across both the residential and short-term accommodation categories, we have been working with developers inexperienced

“It is clear, the current wave of investment will revolutionise Australia’s hotel industry,” Mr Cook said. “Changes in hotel ownership and operations are reshaping the sector. “We can see what’s needed in the changing landscape and deliver the full range of solutions enabling all stakeholders to capitalise on surging hotel demand and maximise potential returns.” Ms Crooks said ownership models also now came in many forms. “Hotels may now have multiple owners and investors. “We see a willingness by investors to pool equity, and a move beyond the traditional hotel management agreement model to leaseholds, franchises and management rights operations,” she said. “Because we have specialised in all these models for so long, originally in the motels and strata titled apartments categories, we are uniquely placed to offer this niche service. “Responsiveness, flexibility and creativity are key to finding innovative and marketdriven solutions that benefit developers, investors and operators seeking to grow their stake in Australia’s bestperforming property sector.”

AVANI BROADBEACH Gold Coast RESIDENCES / BY MINOR Hotels

4.5 STARS

172 KEYS

FIRST AVANI HOTEL TO OPEN IN AUSTRALIA / DEVELOPED BY ANTHONY MORETON GROUP & PRYDE GROUP resortbrokers.com.au

CAMPAIGN DRAWS OUT THE BEST FOR NEW MELBOURNE CBD HOTEL KEEN COMPETITION

GENERATED OFF-THEPLAN BY RESORT

BROKERS HOTELS

FOR A NEW UPSCALE MELBOURNE HOTEL

WILL GAIN THE BEST RESULT FOR ITS

DEVELOPER EVEN

BEFORE CONSTRUCTION BEGINS.

Underlining the appetite for prime properties, a field of 15 international and national operators responded to Resort Brokers’ EOI campaign for the new CBD hotel to be developed by Hong Kongbacked Spacious Group. Resort Brokers Hotels is managing the operator selection process for a new 25-year Hotel Management Agreement to operate the 161-key hotel and

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hotel and serviced apartment tower on the high profile 1,012m2 La Trobe Street site is due to start in June 2018, for completion by mid-2020. The 161 keys are made up of 96 hotel rooms and 65 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Amenities include a generous lobby and guest lounge, ground floor café-restaurant, meeting facilities, terrace-level dining, bar and outdoor area, 24-hour reception, and undercover security parking. “The premium location, in a dynamic inner-city precinct with a lively cultural scene and close to key attractions and businessdrivers, is a major drawcard for operators,” Ms Crooks said. Spacious Property Development Group is an international company registered in Australia, with more than 15 years’ experience in the property development and construction industry. It is privately owned by a group of Hong Kong shareholders.

serviced apartment building at 488 La Trobe Street, West Melbourne. “By closing of the six-week EOI period, we had attracted 15 strong submissions from an impressive field of local and global operators,” said national sales manager, Trudy Crooks. “This was narrowed to a short list of five frontrunners to snare the prize property. “Hotel groups recognised the significance of the trophy location, at the heart of one of Asia-Pacific’s most important financial and cultural hubs. They could get in early, preconstruction, to have input on the design and operation.” Ms Crooks said the process highlighted the willingness of operators to ‘up the ante’ to secure the right offering, while providing early certainty and adding value for the developer. “We drew out operators prepared to agree to performance underwriting, and one offering to lease the property long-term.” Construction of the 17-storey

5 STARS

FV / BY PEPPERS SOLD FOR $28m

DEVELOPED BY GURNER / 918 KEYS IN TOTAL / 72 HOTEL ROOMS / FIRST PEPPERS IN BRISBANE BY MANTRA GROUP h

RESORT BROKERS IS A LEADING HOTEL AND RESORTS SALES AGENCY IN AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND… THE TEAM AT RESORT BROKERS ARE LEADING AUSTRALIAN SALES AGENTS AND I WOULD RECOMMEND THEM TO ANY VENDOR CONSIDERING SELLING ACCOMMODATION ASSETS Dilip Rajakarier CEO / Minor Hotels

resortbrokers.com.au

PERTH APARTMENT HOTEL SOLD OFF-THE-PLAN In another high profile sale for Resort Brokers Hotels, a 64-unit serviced apartment hotel in West Perth was last year bought off-the-plan for $12.5 million by an offshore investment fund. Western Australia’s leading apartment developer, Finbar Group Limited, sold the 64 studio apartments in its Aire West Perth development to a fund managed by Hong Kong and Singaporebased ZACD Group. Resort Brokers, which has for many years specialised in selling accommodation assets off-the-plan during the development phase, handled the sale in conjunction with Prime Resort Sales. “Our proven expertise, extensive data base of hotel investors including on and offshore fund managers,

and excellent long-term relationships with hotel operators are invaluable when negotiating on asset sales prior to completion,” said selling agent, senior broker Glenn Millar. The Aire apartment development, centrally located on a prime site in Murray Street, West Perth, is due to be completed in mid-2018. The 4.5-star serviced apartment hotel will occupy podium levels one to four of the $108 million mixed-use development. Facilities include a separate lobby, 65 car spaces, a level-four 22-metre swimming pool, games room, meeting room, residents’ lounge, gym and sauna. It is understood ZACD is now in talks with potential operators.

CANBERRA HOTEL SALE A HARD-WON SUCCESS When Canberra’s Capital Executive Apartment Hotel recently changed hands for the first time in 22 years, Resort Brokers successfully concluded a unique and very complex transaction. The sale to Madison Hotel Group was reliant on a large-scale unit buy-out that took almost 12 months to conclude. Madison bought the management rights to the 87-unit apartment hotel along with 36 freehold units that the vendor (Stanbritt Pty Ltd) had acquired over a number of years. But the sale hinged on the buyer being able to also purchase most of the other apartments in the 83-unit complex. “In the end, they independently secured 48 of the other units, which allowed their purchase from the former proprietor to be finalised,” said Resort Brokers managing director, Ian Crooks.

4.5 STARS

Mantra / Quayside & Palm Court MAJOR PORT MACQUARIE ‘HYBRID’ ACCOMMODATION PARCEL INCLUDING MANTRA APARTMENT HOTEL, 21 UNITS, A SQUASH COURT, AND “It’s a unique and complex deal that will see the property revert from a management rights operation to a traditional hotelstyle establishment under largely single ownership. “So it was a very satisfying result, particulary as Canberra is one of Australia’s most tightlyheld accommodation markets.” Madison Hotel Group now plans to renovate and relaunch the

property under their new brand as Madison Suites Canberra. The company, which owns a number of properties in Canberra, Sydney and regional NSW, operates both short-term and permanent residential accommodation businesses. They also own the former Chifley Plaza Hotel in Townsville, North Queensland, now refurbished as Madison Plaza Townsville.

ADJACENT MOTOR INN

TRUDY CROOKS NATIONAL SALES MANAGER M. 0477 882 210

E. trudycrooks@resortbrokers.com.au

TIM CROOKS

NATIONAL OFF-THE-PLAN SPECIALIST M. 0422 208 450

E. timcrooks@resortbrokers.com.au Proudly presented by

ALEX COOK

SENIOR BROKER M. 0467 600 610

E. alexcook@resortbrokers.com.au