Invesco Real Estate has secured two hotel developments on a turn-key basis in Florence’s historic city centre at Piazza San Paolino and in CityLife Milan, near the Portello business district. Both hotels will be operated under long-term lease agreements with strong internationally recognised brands. The deals add an additional country, operator and hotel-style to Invesco Real Estate’s growing pan-European hotel portfolio, which currently has 25 investments with over €1.5bn of AUM.
Scheduled to open in the second half of 2020, the 25hours hotel in Florence will offer 172 uniquely-designed guestrooms, a large c.1,000m² garden (a rarity in Florence city centre) all within the centre of the UNESCO protected old town. Florence ranks as one of Italy’s top four most visited cities, primarily driven by international tourism. The seller is Art-Invest Real Estate.
The new NH Collection – upper upscale brand of NH Hotel Group – in Milan is located in the up-and-coming Milan sub-market CityLife, a historic neighbourhood redevelopment housing mixed-use developments including office, retail and residential, thus attracting major international companies. The development is set to open in Q4 2021 and will offer 185 rooms with conference facilities and a swimming pool in the rooftop.
Chris Brassington, Senior Director - Fund Management at Invesco commented: “Italy is a key hotel market, ranking as the third most visited destination in Europe for international tourism and one that we have been looking to access as we grow our diversified hotel portfolio. The addition of these assets provides access to a new-build lifestyle hotel in the heart of Florence and the growing Citylife district of Milan, where corporate and convention demands are set to increase. These assets will add value creation opportunities and stable income for our investors’ growing portfolio of investments.”
