Demand for Gold Coast hotels is up, with eight sales over the past 12 months with a combined value of $500 million.
The figure was reached this week with the signing of contracts for the $80 million sale of the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Surfers Paradise.
Industry courses say the offmarket deal is due to settle by the end of June.
They say it will see the 408-room venue come under the control of major investment funds manager, Challenger.
Challenger, through company Fidante Partners Services, holds the nearby Paradise Centre which it bought for $162.5 million in late 2012.
Hotel Grand Chancellor has been sold by Singapore-based Hotel Grand Central which purchased it for $47 million in 2010 and later undertook a $8.75 million refurbishment.
The deal was negotiated by McVay Real Estate whose principal, Dan McVay, yesterday confirmed the sale but declined to comment, saying details remain confidential.
The transaction, subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval, lifts the agency’s Gold Coast hotel sales tally to seven over the past 12 months.
Other hotel properties sold by the agency comprise Greenmount, Vibe, Crown Plaza, Hilton, Marriott and Paradise Resort.
Also sold in the period was Mayor Tom Tate’s Islander Resort in Surfers Paradise.
Mr McVay said he had been astonished by the uptick in interest in Gold Coast hotel properties.
“It is nothing short of amazing,” he said.
“I have been selling Gold Coast property for 30 years and have never seen the like.
“I believe it marks a coming of age for the city.
“Overseas and interstate investors finally get the Gold Coast.
“They recognise that the city is a great place in which to invest.
“They see that infrastructure such as the light-rail system, along with extensive health and education facilities, the numerous events hosted by the city each year and the staging of the Commonwealth Games in 2018 are game-changers for the Gold Coast.
“This view also has seen Asian and Australian property developers acquire important sites in the city which they have earmarked for major projects.”
Among such projects are the $1 billion, three-tower Jewel development in Surfers Paradise; Broadbeach towers The Beaches, Synergy and Qube; a multi-building mixed-use development earmarked for the Star of the Sea site at Southport; an 88-storey building approved for the former Iluka tower site at Surfers Paradise; a multi-tower development approved a site fronting Ferry Rd and Meron St in Southport; and the 55-level Sundale tower, also in Southport, which is just months from completion.
Original article published at www.goldcostbulletin.com.au by Martin Rasini 28/5/2016