Auckland’s renowned Stamford Plaza hotel has been sold in an unconditional sale for $170 million – making it the “largest ever” hotel sale in New Zealand.
The Auckland hotel was sold to a consortium comprising of NZ’s biggest hotel owner CP Group, global investment firm Alvarium Investments via its locally-owned Auckland office, and private equity company Archipelago Capital.
Alvarium Investments founder and global co-chair Andrew Williams said he considered the $170m investment an “important strategic decision”.
“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,” he said.
CP Group did not directly comment but wrote that the company thought it was “the right time” to buy in the NZ market as international borders reopened and the commercial property sector became more stable.
The hotel giant announced the opening of four more hotels in Auckland and Queenstown back in August.
The Stamford Plaza – previously known as The Regent – had been managed and operated by Stamford Hotels & Resorts as part of the Stamford Group for the past 27 years. The hotel was built in 1984 and last renovated in 2015.
Commercial real estate advisory group JLL managed the hotel sale. JLL’s hotels and hospitality director Nick Thompson said finalising a deal of “this magnitude” proved there was a strong appetite across the NZ hotel sector, due to an upbeat market.
“The hotel market is trending upwards following two years of uncertainty, and that movement is indicative of the strength of the market,” he said.
The last NZ hotel transaction in excess of $100m was in 2006, when the Rendezvous Hotel – now renamed the Grand Millennium Hotel – was sold by JLL for $113m.
