Sheraton Hotel Melbourne hits market for as much as $140 million

Melbourne-based developer Golden Age is looking to sell the Sheraton Hotel Melbourne for as much as $140 million. 

The 174-guestroom hotel is part of a 32-story mixed-use development that has 142 residential apartments as well as 44 luxury residences and penthouses. JLL’s Mark Durran is handling the hotel sale.

Last month, Golden Age (owned by Jeff Xu) purchased an adjacent site in Melbourne from private developer Grocon for an estimated $75 million. That acquisition could allow the company to build a new $300-million mixed-use hotel and apartment project.

Over the last 10 years, Golden Age’s property arm has amassed $3 billion in residential and commercial projects in Melbourne and Sydney, including Victoria One, the tallest residential tower in Melbourne's central business district.

The Sheraton was the group’s first major project and was developed on the old Naval and Military Club sites.

China's Interest in Australia

It's hardly news that Chinese investors have been snapping up Australian hospitality real estate in recent years. Sunshine Insurance agency spent $463 million on Sydney's Sheraton on The Park, and an entity associated with Bright Ruby's purchased the Hilton Sydney for $442 million. Chinese investors also acquired the Park Hyatt Melbourne and transformed the former Sydney Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board headquarters in Pitt Street, Sydney, into the five-star Primus Hotel.

Last spring, Chinese group Tianlong Ribbon Property Unit Trust was confirmed as the buyer of what The Australian is calling the country's largest hotel transaction. The deal—which involves the ­development of the 402-room W Sydney hotel—was made between Grocon, take-out party Tianlong Ribbon, government landowner Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and Starwood Hotels & Resorts (prior to the finalization of the company's acquisition by Marriott).

In October, Shenzhen-based Han’s Holding Group filed a development application with development manager Touchstone Partners for a mixed-use project worth nearly $500 million in Sydney.