The overhauled hotel and retail complex at 72 Queen Street Mall, Brisbane. Source: Supplied
Financial services company Challenger has finalised the purchase of the NEXT Hotel and retail complex on Brisbane’s high-profile Queen Street Mall for $133 million.
The move has lifted Challenger life insurance arm’s commercial property portfolio to about $2.7 billion, meaning it now accounts for 22 per cent of assets.
Challenger chief financial officer Andrew Tobin said at the company’s interim results that normalised growth in the life business had increased from the higher property allocation
“With our success in growing lifetime annuity sales, we acquire assets providing longer dated cashflows such as property,” he said.
Challenger acquired about $500m of office and retail property in the second half of 2014 and secured the hotel and retail complex on a 7.3 per cent yield.
The overhauled hotel and retail complex, at 72 Queen Street Mall, is the first international NEXT Hotel brand and also the Australian debut of global fashion retailer Forever 21.
Dean Dransfield of Dransfield Hotels & Resorts and JLL’s head of retail investments, Australasia, Simon Rooney, together with JLL Hotels, advised the vendor, Singapore’s SilverNeedle Hospitality, on the sale flagged by The Australian.
Mr Rooney said refurbished city assets were in high demand in Australia. “CBD retail markets are going through a transformational phase, welcoming a new wave of international retailers that are expanding into the Australian market,” he said.
Mr Dransfield said the deal was a rare sale and leaseback deal and had been chased by investors keen to invest in Brisbane hotels.
