Fortitude Valley Street-Art Hotel Sold For $20 million

Brisbane’s only street art hotel, TRYP Fortitude Valley, has been sold for just over $20 million through CBRE Hotels.

Aligned Funds Management has acquired the boutique property on behalf of a client in the firm’s fifth hotel acquisition since late 2014.

Glen Boultwood, Executive Director of Aligned Funds Management, said the firm had a continued appetite to acquire further hotels on behalf of this mandate and for a number of other clients.

“We have delivered an annual ungeared return of over 17% during the first 12 months of this mandate despite having to absorb acquisition costs,” Mr Boultwood said.

“In today’s market it is important to retain discipline when looking at acquisitions to ensure that rather than just following the market we can extract real value for our clients.”

Aligned Funds Management was established in July 2014 by Mr Boultwood and Victoria Clent, both of whom have experience in acquiring and managing office, retail, industrial and hotel property assets.

The firm acquired the Fortitude Valley property following a recent campaign managed by Wayne Bunz and Rob Cross of CBRE Hotels,

The 4-star, 65-room property is the first TRYP by Wyndham branded hotel in the Asia Pacific region and a flagship property for world renowned operator Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

It has been acquired on a yield of 7.8%.

Mr Boultwood noted that the Brisbane hotel market generally suffered from lower demand on weekends.

“In order to get comfortable with investing in the Brisbane hotel market, especially given the forecast future supply, it was imperative that any hotel could generate strong weekend demand to enable it to outperform the broader hotel market from both an occupancy and rate perspective,” Mr Boultwood said.

“The TRYP hotel has a proven track record in this regard. While there are other boutique hotels located in Fortitude Valley, the design of TRYP is unique and we believe it has the potential to become a destination hotel.”

CBRE Hotel’s Senior Director Wayne Bunz said the sale campaign for the property had generated significant buyer interest, with a total of 211 enquiries.

The hotel features 65 well-appointed guest rooms, a library themed meeting room and exceptional food and beverage outlets, including the rooftop bar ‘Up on Constance’ and its iconic restaurant Chur Burger, from award-winning chef Warren Turnbull.

Each floor of the hotel features striking urban street art and colourful murals by world-acclaimed street artists Magee, Numskull, Rone and Beastman, coupled with an exceptional blend of finishes showcasing elements of Brisbane’s unique heritage. The edgy artwork is also replicated in the bathroom basins, funky private courtyards and framed prints within the themed rooms.

Mr Bunz noted; “Brisbane has seen consistent economic growth in recent years and has become one of the most sought-after destinations for hotel operators in Australia. Brisbane is powering along and benefitting from record investment projects, including the Brisbane Airport Corporation’s $3.3 billion expansion, extensive public transport infrastructure, the regeneration of the RNA Showgrounds and Echo’s $2 billion investment into the Queens Wharf casino, retail and entertainment precinct. These developments represent significant marks of confidence in Brisbane”.

CBRE Hotels Senior Director Rob Cross added; “The unique design of the hotel, coupled with its exceptional location amongst key demand generators and strong food and beverage venues underpinned buyer interest.”

The sale coincides with the previous owner’s decision to focus on developing additional TRYP hotels in partnership Wyndham Hotels & Resorts to assist with their rapid expansion of TRYP hotels across Australia.