Auckland's Stamford Plaza Hotel sold for $170m: Singaporeans close deal

Auckland's huge Stamford Plaza on Albert St. Photo / JLL

Auckland's Stamford Plaza Hotel has been unconditionally sold by its Asian owners for $170 million which is the largest single hotel sale in New Zealand, according to the real estate agency involved.

The deal on the Albert St property is yet to settle but that is expected to be before Christmas.

Singaporean billionaire Chio Kiat Ow put the five-star hotel up for sale after deciding to sell six New Zealand and Australian properties.

Nick Thompson, JLL's director of hotels and hospitality in the agency's Auckland office, sold the Auckland hotel, used as a managed isolation facility during the height of the pandemic.

Thompson said the hotel has been sold to a newly-formed company Albert Street Hotel. That is owned by a consortium which is national hotel owner CP Group, Alvarium Investments and Archipelago Capital.

The transaction went unconditional yesterday and is due to settle in December, he said.

The vendor is Singapore's Stamford business and the stock exchange in that country has issued a notice about the sale.

The hotel was originally called The Regent and was managed and operated by Stamford Hotels & Resorts as part of the Stamford Group for 27 years.

The hotel has 286 rooms as well as 149 apartments. Those apartments are not included in the $170m deal because they are privately owned.

"There's never been another hotel sold in New Zealand for $170m. The last hotel which sold for more than $100m in this country was the Grand Millenium on Mayoral Dr around 2006," Thompson said.

That transaction was for $113m, Thompson said.

"The last equivalent hotel transaction in New Zealand in excess of $100m was in 2006 when the Rendezvous Hotel, now the Grand Millennium Hotel, sold for $113m via JLL agents. Just over a month ago, Sir Stamford Circular Quay in Sydney sold for A$210.5m, equivalent to over A$2m per room," JLL said today.

"The Stamford Plaza Auckland sale equates to more than $700,000 per room across 286 rooms and suites, once planned refurbishments are completed. Two Stamford asset sales in major city centres indicate Australasia is seen as a safe destination to add to portfolios. The divestment of these non-core assets demonstrates the high quality of the wider Stamford portfolio," JLL said today.

Last year, the Singaporean billionaire was reported to be selling six Australasian properties.

Those included Sydney's Sir Stamford Circular Quay and Stamford Plaza Sydney Airport Hotel and Conference Centre, Adelaide's Stamford Grand and Stamford Plaza and the Stamford Plaza hotel in Melbourne.

JLL was appointed along with CBRE to sell the properties. But Thompson said the Auckland hotel sale was separate from that appointment: "In 2021, JLL and CBRE were appointed for all the properties, but those transactions did not proceed. The subsequent off-market transaction of Stamford Plaza Auckland was done solely by JLL."

Ow owes just under 40 per cent of the stock exchange-listed company.

Today's statement from JLL in Auckland said Ow had hand-picked the Albert St hotel during the 1990s when he bought here and in Australia.

Thompson said the hotel market was recovering following two years of uncertainty due to the pandemic.

The sale was indicative of the strength of the market now, he said.

Hotel investors tended to take a longer-term approach to asset transactions.

Other hotels are expected to be sold shortly soon.

JLL said: "Heading into the final quarter of 2022, the sale of the Stamford Plaza Auckland is one of a number of major hotel transactions expected to be announced before the year's end."