Ovolo sells hotel that launched Australian expansion
Hong Kong-based Ovolo is selling two Melbourne hotels including the one that marked its entry into Australia 14 years ago.
Ovolo Laneways at 19 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, changed hands in July for $20.09 million.
The vendor, First Asset Pty Ltd, is associated with Ovolo.
The buyer is EMKC Cubed.
Ovolo is also speculated to be selling its other Melbourne hotel, in Toorak Road, South Yarra.
That asset could be worth over $60m.
A former medical centre, it previously traded in 2018 for $12.1m before being repurposed.
The deals come three years since Ovolo Inchcolm in Brisbane sold to Singapore-backed Invictus Developments. That five-storey hotel occupies a converted 1930s Georgian Revival office (continues below).
Maiden asset sold
Ovolo acquired the former Somerset Gordon Heights at 18 Little Bourke St in 2012 for $11.7m, marking the Hong Kong-founded group’s first international expansion.
It refurbished the building into a 43-apartment hotel, with studios, one and two-bedroom suites. There are three penthouses.
The sale comes as Ovolo expands its brand through partnerships, including a 2025 agreement with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts covering five hotels across Australia and Hong Kong.
Ovolo had previously said its Australian room count had tripled since 2018.
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