PERTH: Holiday Inn City Centre in Perth, owned by Eureka Funds Management Pty Ltd, has been sold to a local investor syndicate for A$44 million (RM136 million), said to be the first major hotel transaction in the Perth CBD since the 2007 sale of the Citigate hotel for A$52 million. CBRE Hotels negotiated the sale to the families of George Atzemis and Constantine Berbatis, both long established property investors in the Western Australian capital city.

In a statement released by CB Richard Ellis on Oct 13, the 4.5-star 181-room Holiday Inn was listed for sale by Eureka in a rationalisation of part of the group’s hotel portfolio. The sale represents one of the biggest private investor deals in Western Australia for the year, coming in at some A$240,000 per room.

CBRE Hotels director David Kenny said the hotel has one of the best locations in Perth on Hay Street -- approximately 200m west of the Hay Street Mall, near departmental stores, major administration offices on St Georges Terrace and the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. IHG group manages the hotel, and under the terms of the sale agreement, has retained the management rights until 2020.

Occupancy rates at Holiday Inn City Centre in Perth exceeded 90% due to the high demand for rooms and a lack of new supply coming onto the market, combined with the attributes of the hotel itself and the astute management of IHG, Kennedy said.

George Atzemis and Constantine Berbatis operated pharmacies and were the developers of four medical centres during the 1970s. In the early 1990s, they began buying and redeveloping shopping centres. The Berbatis family separately owns three smaller accommodation premises in Perth and a fourth in Margaret River is owned by the Atzemis family. They intend to upgrade the Holiday Inn, with a particular emphasis on the ground floor and hotel entrance.

SHARE