Schwartz family’s Trawalla Group looks to offload Hobart gem for $300m

The sale will become a marker for the recovering tourism market in Australia and demand for long-leased assets.

Parliament Square in Hobart is on the block for more than $300m

The Schwartz family-backed Trawalla Group is capitalising on the surge in domestic tourism to put one of Tasmania’s major mixed-use developments – Parliament Square in Hobart – on the block for more than $300m.

Trawalla Group functions as a family office for Alan and Carol Schwartz to manage the family’s investments, and the Hobart hotel and office development is one of their largest projects.

The complex joins a wide suite of hotels on the block, including the $1bn Stamford Land Corporation portfolio, with bidding for that six-strong portfolio closing next Wednesday.

Ms Schwartz’s current board roles include the Reserve Bank of Australia, EQT Holdings Limited and Qualitas Property Partners, and she is a powerful advocate for women in leadership, particularly in business, politics and the media.

Mr Schwartz sold a legal publishing and software business, Anstat Group, to a listed company in the early 2000s and is now managing director of the Trawalla Group.

The hotel and office property is one of the most stunning in Tasmania, which has experienced a tourism lift as most state borders re-open.

Carol Schwartz Picture: David Geraghty

Set above Salamanca Place and overlooking Hobart’s Sullivan’s Cove and Franklin Wharf, Parliament Square is being completed in stages, with the main office building now occupied by the Tasmanian government and the hotel due to reach practical completion in the next three to four months.

It will be offered for sale via an international expressions of interest campaign run by CBRE.

The project features a FJMT-designed office component spanning about 17,300sq m, which is connected to Parliament House and leased to the Tasmanian government until late 2037.

Also included in the sale is the soon-to-be-completed Tasman Hotel, which will be managed by the Marriott Group and feature 152 luxury rooms, styled by acclaimed interior designer Joseph Pang of JPDC.

CBRE’s Mark Granter said the quality of the asset and the government tenancy covenant of 16 years would “attract widespread interest from some of the largest local and international players in the market”.

CBRE Hotels’ Michael Simpson said that interest in the Tasman Hotel would be underpinned by the strength of the state’s tourism market, with the property positioned to become one of the best hotels in Australia.

The Salamanca side of the project was completed in late 2017 and the hotel is due to open in October after building was pushed back by the Covid-19 pandemic, with delays in materials being shipped from overseas.

The hotel is one of several new large chain hotels to open in the Hobart CBD, with the Vibe Hotel opening and the Movenpick also in the city as tourism demand increases.