Singapore’s Jaleel family checks into Brisbane with $34m hotel buy
Singapore’s Jaleel family has added another Aussie address to its collection, picking up Brisbane’s George Williams Hotel in a deal understood to be around $34 million. The buy comes via High Street Holdings — the investment arm of JD Properties — and nudges the group’s local hotel portfolio toward its $150 million growth target ahead of the 2032 Olympics upswing.
High Street partner David Marriott says the family office is leaning into the River City story. “Across Australia, [Brisbane] probably, for us, has the most potential for the next medium to long-term in terms of rate growth and occupancy growth,” he told The Australian Financial Review. “With all the activity that’s going to be happening around the Olympics and the build-up to the Olympics, we really like that.”
The George Williams — recently rebadged as George Hotel Brisbane — sits on the corner of George and Turbot Streets with 102 rooms across a four-star, midscale positioning. It’s already had a $1.2 million spruce-up to guestroom floors, features a leased restaurant, meeting spaces and on-site parking, and will see a full refurbishment under its new owners while keeping its value-friendly appeal. The site has had a few lives: YMCA Queensland purchased it for $2.6 million back in 1996 from Commonwealth Bank. Event Hospitality & Entertainment (backed by Rich Lister Alan Rydge) is in place as operator.
This marks High Street’s fourth Australian asset, joining The Miller Hotel in North Sydney (formerly Rydges North Sydney), Rydges Perth Kings Square (acquired as Peppers Kings Square) and Fortitude Valley’s Kennigo Hotel Brisbane (ex-Richmont). The group has been an active hunter since 2021–2022, paying $75 million for the North Sydney property and roughly $26 million for the Perth hotel — a 17-storey prefabricated build by Hickory that once held the title of Australia’s tallest modular hotel.
The broader investor crowd is also piling into Brisbane ahead of the Olympic Games. Queensland contractor-developer BMD — owned by the Power family — flagged plans last week to double revenue to $4 billion over seven years as home-state projects ramp up.
Commercial buyers like Quintessential have been snapping up CBD offices, while interstate capital is chasing the city’s house price and rental growth. Investment property purchases across Queensland jumped 47% between 2021 (when Brisbane clinched the Games) and 2024.
Sales momentum for hotels is brisk too. CBRE’s Wayne Bunz, who brokered the George Hotel deal with colleague Hayley Manvell, said the campaign wrapped in just eight days — a sign of how tight supply is shaping the market. “The strongest thing about Brisbane is we have very limited new supply. We’ve got the Olympics coming. We’ve got demand far outstripping supply,” Bunz said. “Like every other city where construction costs are ridiculously high, we probably won’t, in my opinion, see any new supply come online of any great levels right up until the Olympics.” He added that offshore money — particularly from Singapore and Hong Kong — is backing Brisbane’s hotel thesis.
Behind High Street is the Jaleel Family Trust, established nearly 50 years ago by Mohamed Abdul Jaleel. Beyond Australia, the portfolio spans Asia with assets like At Inn Hotel Nagoya in Japan, The Great Madras and The Daulat in Singapore, plus Malaysia’s MIDF Tower, which is earmarked for a hotel conversion.
For Brisbane’s operators and investors, the message is clear: limited new keys, big events on the horizon and capital that’s keen to get set.
Jonathan Jackson, 11h November 2025
