A Middle East investor has made its first foray into Poland. Qatar’s Al Sraiya Holding Group has purchased the Westin Warsaw hotel from Skanska for an estimated €56 million. The purchase is reportedly the first hotel acquisition by a Middle East investor in in the country. JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality group advised Skanska on the sale.
“We are seeing increased investor interest in the Central and Eastern European area mainly driven by the appealing tourism fundamentals, a higher yield than traditional markets and the availability of debt,” Patrick J. Saade, EVP of European transactions in JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group, said. “Both the economic nature and the affiliation with the world’s largest hotel company made Westin Warsaw a strategic acquisition for the buyer.”
The sale also ends the nearly three-year saga of the hotel’s ownership. Just days before Marriott announced its acquisition of Starwood in late 2015, Skanska considered forming a joint venture with Starwood and Griffin, a real estate investor focusing on Central and Eastern Europe, to take over the property. Skanska has assumed full control of the building’s former owner, Hotel Atrium SPV, in 2014. The Westin Warsaw was completed in 2003 at an estimated cost of €80 million.
The 361-guestroom Westin Warsaw is the first hotel to have received the LEED certification in Poland, according to JLL, and its location in Warsaw’s main business district has made it popular for business travelers.