Pub barons swoop on Crowne Plaza Terrigal
by Leon Gettler
The prized beachfront Crowne Plaza Terrigal hotel on the NSW central coast has been sold for about $60 million to the Laundy family and Greg Karedis.
The Laundy and Karedis families have been building their extensive portfolio of hotels and pubs on the east coast. Last year, they acquired the 176-room Sheraton Noosa last year for $110 million.
They have owned Sydney’s Manly Pacific Hotel since 2003.
Thefour-star Crowne Plaza Terrigal would be a prize acquisition.
It is the biggest hotel on the central coast.
In the period between 2010 and 2014, it was put through an extensive $10.6 million refurbishment.
Eureka Funds Management purchased the Crowne Plaza in 2005 as part of a $400 million portfolio deal with InterContinental Hotels Group.
After owning it for a decade, Eureka put the Crowne Plaza on the market last year.
There is an agreement in place with operator InterContinental Hotel Group operating until 2020 with a 10-year option.
The Crowne Plaza is a popular weekend holiday destination. It has 13 conference and meeting spaces, a heated outdoor pool and several food and beverage outlets. It also includes a gaming lounge with 21 pokies and 20 retail units leased to third parties.
The domestic tourism industry has been boosted by the slowing Australian dollar which has seen luxury hotel occupancy rates touching 90 per cent in Sydney and Melbourne and room rates surging above $300 a night, according to STR Global.
This has seen the average occupancies at the Crowne Plaza Terrigal rising from 69.7 per cent in 2012 to 73.3 per cent in 2014. And average daily rates have jumped from $194 to $208 over the last three years. The resort draws more than 50 per cent of its revenue from food and beverage accounts.
A weaker Australian dollar would also make Australian hotels more attractive to Asian and US investors.
25th February 2016
