Fund manager targets Four Points Sydney
Aggressive Melbourne fund manager Impact Investment Group has snapped up the Sheraton’s Four at Central Park.
The $190 million deal has also seen it secure a big parcel of office space.
It’s a significant development because it is Impact’s first ever investment in the Sydney hotel property market which is now in overdrive and where the average hotel room occupancy rate is now reportedly at more than 90 per cent.
The hotel sector is now way ahead of other property classes. The Sydney and Melbourne markets are the big standouts.
“Chinese visitor growth of 22 per cent is the dominant contributor to this stellar performance, which is being driven by a growing Chinese middle class,’’ Savills managing director of hotels Michael Simpson told The Australian.
Impact acquired the 297 room hotel from Singapore’s Frasers Property Australia and Japan’s Sekisui House.
The deal sees Impact taking the option to buy the hotel and office space on the north west corner of the giant Central Park development in inner-city Chippendale.
The development, will be completed next year by builder Multiplex.
The 5400sq m office complex known as 100 Broadway, designed by British architects Foster + Partners, is a critical element to the investment being a key part of Frasers and Sekisui’s $2 billion Central Park precinct.
Based in Melbourne, Impact Investment Group has more than $400 million in funds under management.
The fund is controlled by chief executive Chris Lock and Small Giants, a private investment company created by Melbourne’s Berry Liberman and her business partner, Daniel Almagor.
Founded in 2013, the fund manager took the name “Impact” because it seeks to make a difference. The aim is to deliver competitive financial returns and social and environmental returns.
Its other investments include a wind farm through an unlisted trust, a solar energy infrastructure fund along with property in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne including the second tower in Lend Lease’s Brisbane Showgrounds.
by Leon Gettler, April 21st 2017
