Tycoon Jerry Schwartz expands in Blue Mountains with $25m resort play

The top hotel owner is capitalising on the rising weekend drive and conference markets that are lifting regional hospitality.

Leura Gardens Resort, blue mountains, NSW, source: supplied

 

Australia’s largest private hotel owner Jerry Schwartz has swooped on the Leura Gardens Resort property near Sydney’s Blue Mountains, paying about $25m.

Dr Schwartz said the purchase of the property near his luxury Fairmont Resort was a “no-brainer” for introducing better synergies into the Schwartz Family Company group of hotels, which has a spread of assets on the eastern seaboard.

The vendor was the unlisted Elanor Hotel Accommodation Fund, which purchased the resort property in June last year.

The sale amount is a 25 per cent premium on the fund’s original purchase price of about $20m. The deal was struck off-market after an approach by CBRE’s national director of hotels, Wayne Bunz.

The Leura Gardens Resort was developed on almost two hectares of land and includes a mix of guest rooms, suites and serviced apartments plus a two-bedroom manager’s house on site. It also incorporates large conference and events facilities including two restaurants, bars, a coffee lounge and gym.

In a statement to The Australian, Dr Jerry Schwartz, who was worth $596m on The List, said: “I thank Elanor for the opportunity to combine Leura Gardens Resort with the Fairmont and leverage its facilities.”

“The acquisition will also allow us to provide for a different target group of guests at the 3.5 star level, complementing the higher category 4.5 star guests at the Fairmont,” he said.

Elanor’s head of hotels, tourism and leisure Marianne Ossovani said, although the company’s initial intention was to maintain a long-term strategy for the asset, its foremost priority was ensuring robust returns for investors. “We’re delighted to have achieved significant returns within a short time frame,” she said.

Mr Bunz said with the popularity of the Blue Mountains to domestic tourists, opportunities to purchase assets of scale in such iconic locations were scarce, and existing owners benefit from the high barriers to entry for new properties with mounting development costs.

“This sale is a great outcome for both Elanor’s investors as well as the Schwartz Group, who will benefit from economies of scale of owning and operating this asset with the Fairmont Resort Blue Mountains and other assets in the portfolio,” he said.

Elanor picked up the resort, which is across the street from the Leura Golf Club, vacant possession from investment partners Arvi Rubenstein and Jonathan Wolf last year. It had undergone a $5m renovation over 14 months. Tourism sources said the hotel benefits from its proximity to the Blue Mountains National Park.