Wealthy families to sell Sorrento’s ‘Conti’ hotel for $180m
The landmark Continental Hotel at Sorrento on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula will hit the market in late January after its wealthy owners decided to sell it just two-and-a-half years after completing a $120 million redevelopment.
Ownership of the revamped 150-year-old limestone hotel is held in a consortium that includes the Victor Smorgon Group (a family office and wealth manager founded by the late industrialist Victor Smorgon), the family-owned Kanat Group with deep roots in textiles and fashion, and Trenerry Property, a developer led by Robert DiCintio.
Agents from JLL and Cushman & Wakefield have been appointed to market the luxury hotel, which stands on a hill overlooking the sea on Ocean Beach Road.
Also included in the offering is Sorrento Lodge, a nearby workers’ facility developed by the same consortium to provide affordable accommodation for hospitality staff priced out of the area’s expensive rental market.
The two assets are offered on a sale-and-leaseback basis by the Trenerry Consortium underpinned by a long-term lease. Price expectations are understood to be around $180 million.
While originally pitched as a long-term investment when the consortium took charge of the hotel redevelopment in 2020, a spokesperson said the strategy was “always to develop and then realise the value in these assets rather than remain as long-term shareholders”.
“So the time has come to sell the Conti and focus on our other live projects across Sydney and Melbourne,” the spokesperson said.
Dating back to 1875, the “Conti” – as it is known by locals – was built by renowned actor, politician and businessman George Coppin in a Victorian Italianate style using locally quarried limestone at a time when Melburnians were flocking to the affluent seaside town.
In May 2020, Trenerry Consortium acquired the hotel from receivers for $14.5 million after a half-complete renovation project had stood dormant for over a year following the collapse of developer Steller.
The consortium then completed the redevelopment in mid-2022.
The complex includes 108 guest rooms across five levels and multiple upmarket restaurants and bars. There’s also a bathhouse and spa as well as conference and event spaces. The hotel component is operated as the Intercontinental Sorrento by IHG.
The luxury accommodation is at the gateway to Portsea, famous for its clifftop mansions valued in the tens of millions and owned by Rich Listers such as Lindsay Fox and Paul Little, and wealthy Melbourne property families such as the Deagues.
The Trenerry consortium is also behind Australia’s first Six Senses resort currently in development at the Burnham Beeches estate in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne.
It also owns Poolman House, a $23 million mansion in South Yarra that has returned to the market after the consortium was unable to realise its dreams to transform it into Australia’s first Soho House private members club.
The sale campaign for the Continental Sorrento is handled by JLL agents Peter Harper, Nick MacFie, Stuart Taylor, and Will Connolly – alongside Cushman & Wakefield’s Daniel Wolman, Oliver Hay, Nick Rathgeber, Leigh Melbourne, and Leon Ma.
“The Continental Sorrento is a trophy asset located in the heart of Australia’s version of the Hamptons,” Mr Harper said.
“This sale campaign represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to acquire an iconic asset on a passive investment basis and enjoy the financial returns and personal accolades it offers.”
