The sale of the hotel comes just three months after Ms Hastings said the group would retain the property as an operating hotel after previously looking to selling it as a residential development site.
Event is also selling its Rydges Rotorua in New Zealand. “Further potential non-core property divestments remain under review,” the company said.
For incoming owner High Street Holdings, the acquisition is its second in Australia after it paid $15.8 million last year for the 108-room Richmont Hotel in Brisbane. HSH relaunched the hotel in August as Kennigo Hotel Brisbane and appointed Event to manage it under its Independent Collection brand.
The Singaporeans will refurbish the North Sydney hotel after the deal settles at the end of July. The hotel occupies a 2549 sqm site at 54 McLaren Street in a prime location in the North Sydney CBD next to the under-construction Victoria Cross Metro Station,
A spokesman for Event said it could not say at this stage whether it would continue to manage the hotel as a Rydges post-settlement.
The sale of Rydges North Sydney was brokered by CBRE Hotels’ Wayne Bunz and Michael Simpson. It comes amid a major thawing of the hotel investment market as occupancy rates rise across the country and corporate travel resumes.
HSH also owns the Inn Hotel Nagoya in Japan and two boutique hotels in Singapore.
The company is one of a number of private investment vehicles owned by the Jaleel Family Trust, established by Mohamed Abdul Jaleel.
The family started off in 1977 with a small convenience store just behind City Hall in Singapore before expanding into purpose-built workforce accommodation, logistics, and other real estate sectors throughout Singapore.
Its Mini Environment Service Group owns and manages about 25,000 dormitory beds for workers in Singapore.
High Street Holdings partner David Marriott said the Jaleel family office was pursuing further Australian investment opportunities as part of the continued diversification of its global portfolio.
“The transparency of the Australian market and the strength of domestic demand, which accounts for circa 80 per cent of hotel visitation numbers, continues to be a key attraction in light of the volatility in international tourism in recent years,” Mr Marriott said.
