Hamburg-based Union Investment has made its third hotel acquisition in the United States with the announced purchase from developer Hidrock Properties and investment company Robert Finvarb Companies of the 317-room Courtyard by Marriott World Trade Center in New York City in a deal worth in excess of US$200 million.
The deal for its open-ended real estate fund Unilmmo: Global comes about six weeks before the hotel’s official opening close to the World Trade Center complex and Ground Zero memorial, as well as to the new Westfield shopping mall.
“Thanks to the one-off location with demand generators in the business and leisure segments, the hotel has excellent prospects of becoming the new Courtyard by Marriott flagship in New York,” said Andreas Löcher, head of Investment Management Hotels at Union Investment Real Estate GmbH. “We are delighted to have agreed the acquisition of this first-class property in New York, the most liquid hotel market worldwide, and see potential for growth in room rates.”
The new acquisition sees Union Investment’s hotel portfolio increase to 60 hotels with a total of 16,715 rooms. In the past six years, the value of the company’s hotel holdings has risen by more than 100% and they are now worth €3.37 billion (US$3.5 billion)
“With the three US hotels we have acquired since November 2015 for Unilmmo: Europa and Unilmmo: Global, we have achieved the desired diversification in terms of location and operator right from the start, thereby replicating the key characteristics of our European hotel portfolio. In the coming years, we intend to tap into new locations for our funds in both America and Europe,” Löcher said.