Veriu to boost portfolio with four more Punthill hotels
Sydney-based boutique hotel chain Veriu is gearing up to launch another four properties under its Punthill brand, adding another 235 rooms to the group’s portfolio over the next two years.
Three new Melbourne hotels and one regional Sydney hotel worth over $80 million are in the works and expected to open in February 2021.
The 40-apartment Punthill Essendon North property will be built in partnership with Melbourne developer EVR Group and will offer a mix of studio and one-bedroom apartments.
Also in the pipeline is the 80-apartment Punthill Caroline Springs, to be built in partnership with property developer Geopec.
Veriu Group chief executive Zed Sanjana said each of the hotels was funded by the individual developers they partner with on each site.
“Our model is that we partner with a developer who funds the development and delivery of the hotel and then we will lease it over the long term,” Mr Sanjana said.
Another Melbourne project in the works is the 55-apartment Punthill Oakleigh Central which will comprise of a mix of fully furnished studio, one and two-bedroom apartments.
In NSW’s Central Coast, Veriu will launch the 60-apartment Punthill West Gosford within 24 months.
“Our properties in West Gosford are located right behind major medical infrastructure like the hospital and consulting suites which drives a lot of travel demand,” said Mr Sanjana.
“There’s also been quite a bit of infrastructure being built in the area which then drive the whole economy and create demand for hotel rooms.
“There’s not a lot of new supply that’s gone into Gosford for quite some some time. A lot of the stock there is 20 to 30 years old and very few people have built new supply and in those types of markets, so for us it’s really a no brainer.”
The rollout of the new properties will boost Veriu Group’s hotel collection to 17, and its overall portfolio to over 1700 rooms and apartments across 24 sites under the combined Veriu Hotels & Suites and Punthill Apartment Hotels brands.
By 2025, the group is expected to grow by an additional 50 properties by partnering with top tier developers and local businesses.
The four deals were preceded by the last hotel announcement in April, a new 111-room hotel at Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market as part of a redevelopment of the historic 6500-square-metre Munro site.
The project is schedule to open in 2022.
Helmed by Rhys Williams and Alex Thorpe, Veriu, now a hotel operator following its humble roots as a student accommodation provider, acquired the existing 14-hotel Punthill Apartment Hotels portfolio last year.
With Su-Lin Tan
