Sydney hotel sells for record $530m

The deal for Sydney Hilton values each room at $902,896.

The recently refurbished Hilton Sydney has sold for c$530 million, a record price for an Australian hotel.

Baring Private Equity Asia is the buyer; it is the Hong Kong based global private equity firm’s latest local investment.

The seller was Singapore’s Bright Ruby, which is exiting the Australian commercial property market.

The Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, which sold last year, is set for a refurbishment.

The deal reflects a windfall for the group which paid Hilton $442m for the 587-suite, 5-star hotel with Luke Mangan’s Glass restaurant on the second floor, in 2015.

In late 2020, BPEA, in partnership with Futuro Capital, acquired a Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne, office, including the Tivoli Arcade, for a total of c$210m.

Another hotel sale

JLL Hotel & Hospitality’s Mark Durran marketed the Hilton Sydney, which was developed in 1974 at 488 George Street and revamped at a cost of c$25m two years ago (story continues below).

The InterContinental Double Bay traded last May for nearly $180 million.

The deal comes seven months since KKR in partnership with Futuro and Marprop paid Frasers $315m for the nearby Sofitel Sydney Wentworth – a transaction which priced every room at c$721,000; that asset is now set for a refurbishment.

Not long earlier, Fridcorp and Piety snapped up the InterContinental Double Bay, in the city’s east, for c$180m, which valued every suite at c$1.286m.

Last week we reported Shakespeare Property Group was outlaying $114m for the Gold Coast’s Palazzo Versace.

The previous record for an Australian hotel was set in 2014 when Sydney’s Sheraton on the Park traded for $463m to Sunshine Insurance Group Corporation.

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Marc Pallisco

A former property analyst and print journalist, Marc is the publisher of realestatesource.com.au.