The Sun Shines Again – JLL sells Sunshine Tower Hotel for $10.7 million.

Brisbane, 21 April 2022 – The Sunshine Tower Hotel in Cairns has been sold to family-owned accommodation operators Alivio Group, by Gareth Closter, Senior Vice President, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group.

The sale of the Sunshine Tower Hotel, for close to $11 million, represents a strong per key rate and a yield inline pre-COVID levels. “The market for quality accommodation assets in Cairns, and Queensland in general, is extremely strong,” Mr Closter said.

The sale process for the Sunshine Tower Hotel was hotly contested, with the Expression of Interest campaign closing with six offers received. Mr Closter was positive about the high occupancy level sustained by the hotel; “The hotel offered yield, having enjoyed occupancy of circa 83% over the past year. Even throughout the pandemic, it performed very well,” he said.  

The Sunshine Tower Hotel outperformed the overall Cairns market due to its quality offering, with large, fully refurbished rooms that attracted a range of guests. “It’s rare to see such solid trading performance, given the Queensland borders were closed for the majority of 2021,” Mr Closter remarked.

The Cairns market has come back to life quickly, with Mr Closter noting that the last week had been the busiest the Cairns Airport had experienced in the past two years. “Easter has been strong for the region and whilst the occupancy data has not been released, anecdotally we see that conditions have been great for accommodation providers,” he noted.

The Sunshine Tower Hotel was offered to the market for the first time after a group of investors amalgamated the building by purchasing all 63 lots within the Body Corporate scheme. After buying the Management Rights and a large tranche of units in the building, the vendors managed to ‘put the building back together’, an extremely rare feat for a Body Corporate scheme of this scale.

The resort offers 61 apartments/hotel rooms that have been completely refurbished, providing a high standard of accommodation, particularly when compared to some of the tired options in the Cairns market. The building has been completely stripped back and fully refurbished (including the services), meaning no immediate CapEx requirements for the incoming owner.

“The Sunshine Tower Hotel was not to be missed, and with such strong market trends in North Queensland, we foresee this purchase to be a great opportunity to be a part of the return of domestic and international tourism” Nicko Ivanov from Alivio Group said.

“Cairns is such an iconic tourism destination. With the resurgence in domestic tourism, the region is set for a huge 2022!” Mr Closter commented.

To request more detail on the sale please contact the exclusive selling agent at JLL Hotels & Hospitality, Gareth Closter