Both the 154-room Novotel Christchurch and 155-room Ibis Christchurch have sold, with on-going management by AccorHotels, to an offshore investment company to complement its existing New Zealand hotel portfolio.
Colliers’ national director of hotels, Dean Humphries, who marketed the properties exclusively, said the reported combined purchase price of circa US$31 million (NZ$43 million) reflected an attractive investment yield given the leasehold tenure of the assets.
“These Christchurch hotels are strategically located in the heart of the CBD and in close proximity to Cathedral Square and the proposed Christchurch Convention Centre which is to be developed by the New Zealand Government and due to open in 2019,” said Humphries.
The sale of these assets also marks the end of a fifteen month divestment programme carried out by Host Hotels and Resorts, the largest lodging real estate investment trust in the US, with the Novotel and Ibis Christchurch being the last assets in its New Zealand hotel portfolio to be sold down. The total reported price of circa NZ$257 million reflected a 38 percent increase on the original reported acquisition price.
