Fierce competition predicted for Auckland’s Langham Hotel

​Sydney, 29 February 2016 – New Zealand’s second largest hotel - the five star The Langham Auckland - has been listed for sale, providing one of the city’s most significant real estate opportunities in years. 

CBRE Hotels has been appointed as the exclusive marketing agency for the Symonds Street hotel, with the campaign to be steered by Rob Cross, Wayne Bunz, Warren Hutt and Peter Hamilton.

It is the first time in almost five years that a five star New Zealand hotel has come on the market for sale.

CBRE Hotels National Director, Rob Cross, said local and international buyer interest was expected given the buoyant hotel and investment market conditions in New Zealand.

“With very few five star hotels in Auckland and limited new supply coming through, The Langham Auckland offers significant long-term investment potential, particularly in light of the fact that hardly any five star hotels have offered to the market in New Zealand over the past decade,” Mr Cross said.

Occupying 13,192sqm of freehold land, The Langham is operated by the Langham Hospitality Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of leading Hong Kong property and hotel company Great Eagle Holdings. It features a total of 411 guest rooms along with some of the city’s leading conference, meeting and event facilities.

Mr Cross said strong preliminary interest was already being fielded, underpinned by the fact that Auckland was the strongest performing hotel market in New Zealand, with considerable future scope and potential.

The hotel’s 1.3 hectare freehold site is expected to be another drawcard, affording the potential to develop a further 29,000sqm of gross floor area across the site, subject to the relevant approvals. This could include additional accommodation, residential apartments or car parks.

“We’re undertaking an investor roadshow across Asia, where we expect to see strong interest from potential buyers in Hong Kong, Singapore and China in particular,” Mr Cross added.

Winner of numerous awards and accolades every year, The Langham Auckland was most recently awarded the title of Luxury Classic Hotel of the Year at 2015’s Luxury Travel Guide Global Awards, in addition to Trip Advisor recognition in the form of its Traveller’s Choice Award in 2015.

Originally built in 1983, the European-style property comprises the main hotel building and a large 208 space car park.  It also includes some of the largest conference and event facilities Auckland, including two ballrooms, providing the capacity for up 1,400 people.

CBRE’s Mr Bunz said the hotel would continue to be managed by the internationally acclaimed Langham Hospitality Group and operated under the Langham hotel brand – giving interested parties added confidence that the property will continue its strong performance after the sale was completed.

“The Langham Auckland trades extremely well, with strong revenue growth and improving profit conversions in recent years. In 2015 the hotel achieved high occupancy rates and management are budgeting a similar rate in 2016, as well as an increase in room rates and revenue as the market continues to improve,” Mr Bunz said.

 Mr Bunz noted that Auckland hotel occupancy levels had shown significant growth in recent years as the result of increased demand and limited new supply.

In the five-star market, this had translated to a 13% increase in the average daily rate in 2015, while revenue per room grew by 15%.