Regional hotels in demand as MA Financial makes buys in NSW and Far North Qld

Investors are banking on large returns from regional hotel assets with a string of properties in NSW and Far North Queensland recently changing hands.

Ibis Styles at 15 Florence Street, Cairns.

Investors are banking on large investment returns from regional hotel assets with a string of hospitality properties in NSW and Far North Queensland recently changing hands.

The ASX-listed MA Financial Group, previously Moelis Australia, has purchased hotels in Bathurst and Cairns for inclusion in its yet to launch MA Real Assets ­Opportunities Fund.

The fund bought the 75-room Ibis Styles Cairns and the 50-room Quality Hotel Bathurst for a total of $18.6m.

It is understood the Ibis Cairns sold by the Sundarjee brothers fetched around $9.5m through CBRE agents, Wayne Bunz and Hayley Manvell. MA Financial said the property’s occupancy was severely impacted by the closure of Queensland’s borders and the purchase price was at a substantial discount to its replacement costs. Mr Bunz and Ms Manvell declined to comment on Wednesday.

MA Financial paid around $9.1m for the Quality Hotel Bathurst in the booming NSW Central Tablelands. The property, which will be rebranded to Accor’s mid-upscale Mantra brand, has just been refurbished and it is already demonstrating strong occupancy given increasing interest from Sydneysiders.

MA Financial said the acquisition was opportunistic as the vendor had been impacted by the closure of the hotel’s restaurant. It was also purchased at a discount to its replacement costs.

A second regional asset owned by the Sundarjee brothers, the 109-room Ibis Styles Hotel in Tamworth, was also recently sold by Mr Bunz and Ms Manvell.

Billed as the longest hotel in Australia, the Ibis Styles Tamworth is located on a 3ha site at the junction of two major NSW highways. The buyer and price is yet to be revealed.

But it is not just regional areas attracting hotel investors.

In Sydney plans have just been approved for a 121-room hotel, branded an Urban Travellers Rest, in the cultural precinct around Paramount House on the south eastern fringe of the Sydney CBD.