Hotel Grand Central has sold the Hotel Grand Chancellor Surfers Paradise for $80 million to financial services group Challenger, acting on behalf of an offshore group, as the value of properties in the area surges.
The Singapore-listed group sold the 408-room hotel to Challenger with the price split between $77.41m for the land and $2.59m for the business.
Challenger owns the adjoining Paradise Centre on Cavill Avenue on behalf of the offshore investor and last year toyed with selling the $240m asset.
But by taking control of the entire site, it could reap substantial advantages by boosting the retail space as well as making better use of the hotel areas.
Challenger declined to comment yesterday but is understood to have fielded interest from at least six major operators to run the properties, with international hoteliers InterContinental, Accor and Starwood seeking to boost their exposure.
Hotel Grand Central picked up the hotel in 2010 for just $47m and poured $8.75m into renovations. The value of the property increased as Chinese and Southeast Asian groups chased prime hotel and apartment sites on the Gold Coast.
Marriott Vacation Club paid $36.5m in 2008 to receivers of the failed NZ financier Bridgecorp to buy the then Courtyard by Marriott hotel. It sold the property, which became the Hotel Grand Chancellor Surfers Paradise, two years later to Hotel Grand Central for $47m.
Challenger bought well at about $190,000 a room, which is seen as well below some comparable hotel sales. But the property’s value has also risen over the past eight years in keeping with the rise of Surfers Paradise.
The latest off-market deal was brokered by Dan and Sam McVay of McVay Real Estate, continuing the run of sales they have brokered along the so-called glitter strip.
McVay Real Estate also brokered the deal last year that saw Marriott Vacation Club return to Australia through the acquisition of the Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa on the Gold Coast for about $85m.
The agent also brokered the sales last year of the Hilton in Surfers Paradise and the Crowne Plaza as well as a low-profile deal on the Vibe Hotel Gold Coast.
Allan Vidor’s Toga Group and Greg Shand’s Barana sold that property for about $45m to Hong Kong giant Kerry Properties, which is yet to reveal its plans.
The pair picked up the then Concorde hotel and tavern from Singaporean tycoon Ong Beng Seng for $27.5m about a decade earlier, before selling into the booming market.
Brookfield Multiplex offloaded the 169 room Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel and the management rights of another tower with 250 apartments to a Chinese-Australian family for about $52m.
Meanwhile, a Singapore-based family bought the Crowne Plaza and Gold Tower at Broadbeach from Singapore’s Cockpit Hotels for about $70m.
Originally Published On: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/