MCK confirms Whangarei agreement is unconditional

19 August 2024

MCK CONFIRMS AGREEMENT TO PURCHASE LAND IN WHANGAREI IS NOW UNCONDITIONAL

MCK is pleased to advise that it will be proceeding with the purchase of land in the Whangarei CBD for the development of a hotel that was announced in April 2024.

MCK’s Managing Director Stuart Harrison said that MCK had concluded that there was sufficient demand in the Northland market to support a new four-star hotel of international quality over the medium to long term.

“Our feasibility study has concluded that Whangarei and the wider Northland region offer a number of exciting future possibilities. We remain confident that our hotel will be a focal point for growing tourism as well as corporate and conference business in the region. That is why we are comfortable to proceed with the land purchase,” he said.

Mr. Harrison also indicated that the build of the hotel would occur over the next few years.

“We believe that the hotel does not need to be built immediately as the tourism market for Northland has not yet recovered to the same extent as other regions. We want to build up demand ahead of proceeding with the build to ensure that our new hotel can trade well throughout the year and provide accommodation to a wide range of market segments. We will therefore be sharing updates on our timing with the market and our key customers as we firm up our build plans and our timings,” he said.

“This is a very exciting outcome, one that we have hoped for since the sites were ear-marked for hotel development in 2012,” said Whangarei Mayor Vince Cocurullo.

“Our District needs a four-star hotel in the centre of the City. We need to be able to attract more conferences and events and to cater to increasing numbers of visitors in the coming years.

“It is great to see our plans for this site taking a significant step forward following this move by Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand – we welcome them, the employment and high-quality visitor experience their development will bring to our District.”

The transaction is expected to settle by 29 August. MCK will be using its existing cash on hand to fund the purchase.

MCK also said that it would continue to explore other opportunities across New Zealand.

“We remain keen to invest in new and existing hotels in locations that will add value to our existing portfolio. Current market conditions are providing some interesting opportunities which we are considering,” said Mr. Harrison.

ENDS

Issued by Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand Limited
Enquiries to:
Stuart Harrison Managing Director
+64 21 869 216

About Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand Limited

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand Limited (NZX:MCK) is the only NZSX listed hotel owner – operator with 18 owned / leased / franchised hotels based in New Zealand under the Millennium, Grand Millennium, M Social, Copthorne and Kingsgate brands. As part of the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels group, we are proud to be part of a global network of over 120 properties in gateway cities across Asia, Europe, North America, the Middle East and New Zealand. MCK is also the majority shareholder in land developer CDL Investments New Zealand Limited (NZX:CDI) and also has property interests in Australia through its Kingsgate Group subsidiaries.

For more information, visit our website: www.millenniumhotels.co.nz

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