Stamford Plaza Hotel is located on Albert Street in Auckland's CBD and has 286 rooms. Photo: RNZ / Jean Bell
An Auckland hotel has been sold for $170 million in what is believed to be largest transaction of its kind in New Zealand.
The Stamford Plaza Hotel has been sold by Singaporean-listed property investor, Stamford Land Corporation, to Albert Street Hotel - a consortium made up of local hotel investor CP Group, global investment firm Alvarium Investments, and Singaporean-based Archipelago Group.
Stamford Group originally purchased the hotel 27 years ago and managed the property through its Stamford Hotels & Resorts subsidiary.
The hotel, located on Albert Street in Auckland's CBD, has 286 rooms and was recently valued at $140m, according to a filing on the Singaporean stock exchange.
Real estate firm JLL, which brokered the deal, said it was the largest hotel deal ever recorded in New Zealand.
The last transaction of a similar size was the sale of The Rendezvous, now known as the Grand Millennium, for $113m in 2006, said JLL.
Stamford Hotels & Resorts chief operating officer Thomas Ong said the divestment was part of a "recalibration of the group's investment strategy" as it focused on other real estate classes.
"In relinquishing Stamford Plaza, the group is grateful for the long-serving high calibre and loyal hotel professionals remaining within the premises who will continue to be an asset to the incoming operator."
Alvarium Investment global co-chair Andrew Williams said it was an opportune time to snap up the hotel, given current market conditions.
"We see New Zealand as a secure real estate market, buoyed by a rebounding hospitality and tourism sector, and well-positioned post the peak of the pandemic."
JLL hotels and hospitality director Nick Thompson said the deal showed there was a strong appetite for hotels in New Zealand, despite recent economic headwinds.
"The hotel market is trending upwards following two years of uncertainty and that movement is indicative of the strength of the market," Thompson said.
"Hotel investors tend to take a longer-term approach to asset transactions, so hotels hold up strongly when headwinds impact other real estate sectors."
The new owners had plans to refurbish and rebrand the hotel under a "major international name", he said.
The hotel had previously been used as a managed isolation facility for international returnees.
JLL expected more hotel deals to be completed before the year ended.
"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 year's end," the company said.