Australia’s Schwartz Family Co. Buys Hilton Surfers Paradise

Main Photo: The Hilton Surfers Paradise

Date: January 2019

Location: Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Name: Hilton Surfers Paradise

No. of Keys: 169

Seller: China’s Ja Feng Group. Canada’s Brookfield put the property on the market in early 2015 for $60 million, eventually selling to “a private Chinese-Australian family” for more than $50 million by the middle of that year.

The current profit of $20 million suggests the market’s growth over four years. It’s worth noting, however, that when the property returned to the market in July, it was originally listed for $80 million.

Buyer: Australia’s Schwartz Family Co., reportedly one of the country’s largest private hotel investors, has acquired the Hilton Surfers Paradise for an estimated AUS $70 million.

The deal is the company’s first property in Queensland and 14th hotel in the country. The majority of these are in New South Wales, and include the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour.

The seven-year-old hotel has guestrooms, four restaurants and bars, a spa, extensive conference and function facilities, four pools, an outdoor deck area and parking.

The deal, expected to close in May, also includes management rights for 220 Hilton residences.

“I believe there is enormous potential for growing the hotel’s business,” said company co-founder Jerry Schwartz. “The Gold Coast is ideally positioned to take advantage of the boom in international travel from Asia and the Pacific, and with Gold Coast and Brisbane international airports expanding their range of source markets, I thought it was the ideal time to enter the market.”

Price: AUS$70m

Price per Key: AUS$414,201

THPT Comment: The Schwartz family has done extremely well in hotels, having started in the medical world, with hotels under the Accor, Rydges, IHG brands and now Hilton.

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