Leased to Strategic Hotel Capital subsidiary on a long-term basis/A leader in combined occupancy and room rate amongst Parisââ¬â¢s top hotels/Extending the Difa portfolio in the top class hotel segment.
Hamburg-based DIFA Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG has gone shopping on the world´s most beautiful boulevard and acquired the Paris Marriott Hotel Champs-Elysees. This 4-star deluxe esta-blishment is the only hotel located on the famous Avenue des Champs-Elysees. Recently constructed behind an existing historic facade, the prestigious Paris Marriott benefits from a unique loca-tion in the heart of the Triangle d´Or, just 300 metres from Place Charles de Gaulle and the Arc de Triomphe. With its high occu-pancy rates, the Marriott is a leader in the Paris luxury hotel mar-ket. DIFA is acquiring the property from Strategic Hotel Capital (SHC) France, a widely respected private, and international hotel investment company headquartered in Chicago. The hotel is ope-rated by Marriott and asset managed by SHC.
The investment in the Marriott Champs-Elysees adds a further top-class hotel to the portfolio of the DIFA-GRUND open-ended real estate fund, which already includes the Steigenberger Hamburg and Dorint Schweizerhof Berlin, bringing the total number of hotels owned by DIFA to 18. 'Working with experienced investment companies such as SHC helps us expand our own expertise in the hotel segment and opens up exciting opportunities for acquiring other city centre business hotels in the attractive four to five-star category,' says Dr. Reinhard Kutscher, the DIFA Management Board member responsible for business outside Germany. In ad-dition, joining forces with a third party allows real estate funds to enter into management agreements with hotel operators. Pre-viously not an option, this arrangement helps safeguard returns.
ââ¬ÅWe are enthusiastic about the growth potential of our relationship with DIFA which perfectly aligns the interests of DIFA and SHC with our unparalleled record of asset management and working with third party operators such as Marriott,ââ¬Â said Laurence Geller, Chairman & CEO of SHC.
Parisian hotel market offers reliable returns
The Marriott Champs-Elysees has a gross floor area of more than 19,000 square metres spread across the basement and seven up-per floors. With 192 deluxe rooms and suites, restaurant and its own business centre, the hotel benefits from the consistently high demand for accommodation in Paris. The city is one of the most important locations for international conferences and trade shows, as well as being a key European tourist destination. Consequently, the luxury hotel segment has always performed well, with average room rates increasing steadily. Despite rising capacity in Paris in the four and five-star category, which currently comprises 142 hotels and some 17,000 rooms, Marriott has consistently perfor-med exceptionally well against its market competition.
Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels and Goldman Sachs International ad-vised SHC on this transaction.
This new acquisition boosts the share of DIFA-GRUND real estate assets located outside Germany to 50.4 per cent, with France ac-counting for 27.2 per cent. The Union Investment Group Company is currently exposed to the French market through ten properties and projects in Paris and Marseilles.
Source: DIFA
