SINGAPORE’S GIC Private is selling the Westin Sydney on Martin Place, with hopes international interest could push the value of the hotel past $400 million.
The sale process follows a flurry of activity in prime hotel space over the past 12 months including the sale of the larger Sheraton on the Park for $463 million.
JLL Hotels is handling the sale and declined to comment.
GIC, a sovereign wealth fund formerly known as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, purchased the famed Sydney hotel in 2002 for $160 million as it looked to build up its Australian property portfolio.
The five-star Westin Sydney boasts 414 rooms, a ballroom that can accommodate 1200 guests, extensive meeting and conference rooms and a full service business centre.
It is part of the redevelopment of Sydney’s historic General Post Office on Martin Place and is surrounded by a luxury goods retail precinct.
Sources estimate that the price for the Westin could be in the range of the $850,000 per room paid for the Sheraton on the Park on Elizabeth Street, overlooking Hyde Park.
“It could go even higher,†said one source in the hotel industry.
The Sheraton on the Park was snapped up by China’s Sunshine Insurance Group last year with a long-term management agreement with the former owner Starwood Hotels in place.
GIC’s sale of the Westin Sydney comes nearly a year after it sold the Park Hyatt in Melbourne to Fu Wah International for $135m.
Another major Sydney transaction in 2014 was private hotelier Jerry Schwartz’s purchase of Sofitel Hotel Darling Park for $360m from Lend Lease.
The sale of the Westin Sydney comes as JLL markets another premium Sydney hotel, the Hilton Sydney on George Street.
That property, which is being sold by New York-listed Hilton Worldwide, is expected to fetch up to $500m.