Thai Family Acquires Vibe Hotel Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia
Main Photo: The view from a suite at the Vibe Hotel
Date: July 2020
Location: Flinders and Queen Streets, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Name: Vibe Hotel Melbourne
No. of Keys: 206
Seller: Australia-based developer, Caydon Property Group, a general developer with a residential and commercial track record. We think this is their only hotel project.
Caydon, led by Joe Russo, paid $18 million for the former Fletcher Jones department store at 1-5 Queen Street in the Melbourne CBD after it was flipped by Malaysian investor Creative Wealth in 2016.
It is the second Melbourne hotel developed and sold by Caydon in the past 18 months, after it offloaded the 97-room Sebel Melbourne Moonee Ponds for $37 million to the Scerri family last year.
Buyer: Thailand-based food importing business, Sino Pacific Trading Company Limited, owned by the Savetsomphob family, has acquired Vibe Hotel Melbourne from Caydon Property Group, for an undisclosed sum. However, the deal is speculated to be transacted at AUD108 million.
The family also owns the Intercontinental Samui Baan Taling Ngam Resort in Koh Samui, which it bought in 2018.
Opened in May 2020, the 23-storey property features 206 guest rooms with views across the Yarra River, a restaurant and bar, conference facilities, a fitness centre and indoor swimming pool. Situated on a 737-square-metre freehold site on the corner of Flinders and Queen Streets, the property is operated by Australia-based Toga Far East Hotels, whose portfolio includes five hotel brands – Adina Hotels, Vibe Hotels, Travelodge Hotels, Rendezvous Hotels and TFE Hotels Collection.
The hotel group has 73 hotels across Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Denmark and Hungary, with another 30 in its development pipeline. Earlier this year, the Savetsomphob family made its first Australian hotel investment, the 145-key Vibe Darling Harbour Sydney for AUD108 million.
The sale of the Vibe Hotel Melbourne was brokered by JLL Hotels.
Price: Understood to be AUD$108m
Price per Key: $524,272
THPT Comment: Coincidence that both Vibe hotels (this one and Sydney) acquired by this Thai family cost AUD$108m? Not a bad return for Caydon – a six-fold return.
First Seen: Australian Financial Review
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