Hotel news and transactions from around the European region: Deka acquires Ruby Zoe Hotel in London from Frogmore and Morgan Stanley, Sterling Property Ventures acquires ibis Styles in Birmingham and more...
Deka acquires Ruby Zoe Hotel in London from Frogmore and Morgan Stanley
German REIT Deka Immobilien, through its Deka-Immobilien Metropolen fund, has acquired the four-star, 173-room Ruby Zoe Hotel & Bar in Notting Hill in London from British developer Frogmore’s private equity fund Frogmore Real Estate Partners (FREP) III, for £53 million (£306,000 per room). Part of the Frogmore’s Notting Hill Gate Estate development, undertaken with investment partner Morgan Stanley, the hotel was completed in mid 2023 and is subject to a long-term operating lease to German operator Ruby Hospitality. Ruby currently has 18 hotels in operation, with two more opening in Q2 2024 – the Ruby Molly in Dublin, and the Ruby Stella in Clerkenwell which will join the Ruby Lucy in Waterloo and the Ruby Zoe as the group’s third London hotel.
Sterling Property Ventures acquires ibis Styles in Birmingham from LGIM
British real estate company Sterling Property Ventures has acquired the three-star, 120-room ibis Styles Birmingham Centre from pan-European asset manager Legal and General Asset Management. The hotel is part of a mixed-use property that is home to the headquarters of major UK pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers (M&B). The property reportedly transacted for £46 million including the 18,000 sqm office building and 325 underground parking spaces. This is the first acquisition completed by Sterling’s new asset management and investment arm. M&B has a lease of some 20 years on the office space of the asset, with the hotel operated by Accor Group on behalf of M&B. One of the largest F&B operators in the UK with nearly 1,784 outlets under its management, M&B has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2003.
Balder acquires future Clarion Hotel Karlatornet in Sweden from Serneke
Swedish real estate development and management company Fastigheter AB Balder has acquired the future 300-room Clarion Hotel Karlatornet in Gothenburg, Sweden, from domestic developer Serneke. The asset was acquired off-plan in the Karlatornet development for SEK 660 million, approximately €58.7 million (€196,000 per room). It will span roughly 17,000 sqm over 15 floors and is expected to open during the summer of 2024 under a lease contract with Norway’s Strawberry Group, previously known as Nordic Choice Hotels, which has a 200-strong hotel portfolio across Scandinavia. As part of the deal, Balder agreed to sell back some building rights that it acquired from Serneke in 2021 in Jarfalla, Stockholm.
HIH Invest acquires the GINN Hotel Hamburg Elbspeicher from Branicks
German asset manager HIH Invest has acquired the Hamburg Elbspeicher mixed-use building in Hamburg, Germany, on behalf of an institutional investor, from German real estate company Branicks Group (formerly DIC Asset). Comprising a total 10,867 sqm of rental space across 10 storeys, the building includes approximately one-third of office space, a furniture store, a restaurant and the main tenant, the four-star, 130-room GINN Hotel Hamburg Elbspeicher. Originally constructed in 1873, a portion of the building was converted from office to hotel use in 2019. The hotel spans approximately 5,400 sqm and has 145 sqm of meeting spaces, a restaurant, bar and parking on-site. The property is now fully rented, with an average remaining lease term of around 13 years.
Biografy Group acquires Le Pigalle hotel in Paris from Perseus
Parisian hotel owner-operator Biografy Group has acquired the four-star, 40-room Le Pigalle hotel in Paris, France, from London-based private equity firm Perseus Capital Partners, for an undisclosed amount. The hotel is located by the Pigalle metro station in proximity to the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre, the Palais Garnier and the Gare du Nord train station. The hotel’s rooms range from 12 to 35 square metres and it offers one restaurant, the Au Pigalle, and the Cafe Pigalle. This acquisition increases Biografy’s portfolio of Paris hotels to six, with others including the four-star, 93-room Terrass Hotel in the 18th district and the four-star, 50-room Madison Hotel in the 6th district. The group also has a hotel in Lyon.
Fletcher acquires The Slaak boutique hotel in Rotterdam
Dutch hotel group Fletcher Hotels has acquired the five-star, 74-room The Slaak boutique hotel in Rotterdam, Netherlands, for an undisclosed amount following the hotel falling into insolvency this month. The property will be trading as the Fletcher Boutique Hotel Slaak-Rotterdam. The hotel includes the Didot34 restaurant and bar, a fitness studio as well as two meeting rooms and is located in the Kralingen district some two kilometres east from Rotterdam’s city centre. The hotel’s architecture dates back to the 1950s and it served various uses throughout its life, obtaining national monument status in 2010. It was fully renovated in 2019 into the existing luxury hotel.
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