Singapore investor buys Crowne Plaza Perth for $50m
A Singapore-based high net worth investor has paid $50 million to buy the 4.5-star Crowne Plaza Perth hotel overlooking the Swan River, in a major boost for the city’s struggling hospitality sector.
The 191-room hotel on Terrace Road, operated by UK giant Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), was sold off-market by Hong Kong-backed Avant Hotels Australia. It was acquired by private Singapore company I-Power Management Pte Ltd.
The last major Perth hotel deal was the $80 million sale of the nearby 256-room Novotel Langley Hotel on Adelaide Terrace by fund manager Alceon to Singapore hotel tycoon Michael Kum’s M&L Hospitality.
The sale of the Crowne Plaza Perth was negotiated by JLL Hotels & Hospitality director Mark Durran, who said it was a good deal on price-per-room basis.
Avant Hotels had sought to sell the hotel just over 10 years ago when the asking price was above $30 million.
“With very few luxury hotels available to purchase in Sydney and Melbourne, counter-cyclical investors are searching further afield for value opportunities,” Mr Durran said. He predicted Brisbane would be the next hotel market to attract investor interest.
The latest Deloitte Access Economics’ Tourism and Hotel Market Outlook report said Perth and Brisbane hoteliers would continue to feel the “double-pinch of increased competition from new entrants and with relatively moderate demand growth”.
Average Perth hotel room rates fell 12 per cent last year to $170 a night, according to international bookings made on hotels.com, while hotel analysts STR recorded the Perth hotel occupancy rate in February at 77.7 per cent compared with 82.6 per cent a year ago.
Perth will get a fresh supply of new hotel rooms in the next few years including a new Ritz-Carlton Hotel at Elizabeth Quay due to open in 2019. The 205-room hotel was put up for sale in April last year by Hong Kong developer Far East Consortium.
Other Perth hotels under development include a modular-built Tribe Hotel to be operated by Mantra Group, a 241-room DoubleTree by Hilton at Elizabeth Quay and a new five-star 350-room Westin Hotel in the CBD, due to open this year.
