Ricardo and Suzanne Krauskopf to sell 'green' boutique Alto Hotel building
Hoteliers Ricardo and Suzanne Krauskopf are selling one of Australia's greenest hotel buildings, the six-star NABERS-rated Alto in Melbourne's Bourke Street.
The Krauskopfs bought the heritage Unity Hall, which was built for the Australian Railways Union on the site of the 1860s Railway Hotel, in 1999 and opened a four-star, 50-room hotel in the redeveloped neo-baroque structure in 2006.
The award-winning hotel combines a mixture of sustainable design – utilising renewable energy and keeping bee hives on the roof – with a rich building history.
In the middle of the terrazzo and marble-lined entrance foyer is a mosaic with the letters ARU (Australian Railways Union) dating from 1916.
CBRE selling agents Joseph Du Rieu and Scott Callow said they expected strong interest after a string of record city property purchases driven by offshore investors.
Newspaper House, a similarly-sized six-level sandstone building at 247 Collins Street, recently fetched $23 million with vacant possession, while an eight-level, heritage-designated 1930s building in Swanston Street recently sold for $15.8 million.
Industry estimates suggest the hotel's freehold is likely to fetch $20 million.
Mr Du Rieu said the Krauskopfs sold the Alto Hotel business to a private operator three years ago on an eight-year lease with six further four-year options.
It returns about $800,000 in net income.
CBRE's recent Australian Hotel Market Update said the short-term outlook for Melbourne's hotel sector was for a continued growth in demand for rooms.
Developers are catering for the extra visitors by constructing, or planning to build in Melbourne over the next three years, the largest number of hotel rooms of any Australian state.
The strength of demand suggested the new supply would only have "a small negative impact on occupancy", the update said.
Revenue per room was up 3.1 per cent to $152.54 and occupancy was about 81.7 per cent.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, Simon Johanson, 4th August 2015
Originally published as: Ricardo and Suzanne Krauskopf to sell 'green' boutique Alto Hotel building
