Valuation of Crowne Plaza London - The City

UBS commissioned Christie + Co’s International Hotel Advisory Group to conduct a Valuation of Crowne Plaza London – The City to support the successful acquisition of the hotel by Italian property investor Gruppo Statuto. UBS provided debt finance, and required an RICS-complaint valuation for secured lending purposes.

LRG Portfolio Valuation

Christie + Co valued one of the UK’s largest hotel portfolios on behalf of the purchasers, LRG Acquisition Limited, a consortium formed by Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners, Realstar Group and GIC Real Estate. The 73 hotels, which have over 12,500 rooms were operated by Intercontinental Hotels Group under the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Express by Holiday Inn brands. The purchase, for c£1 billion, was subsequently securitised with Christie + Co again advising.

Christie + Co advise Hand Picked Hotels

Christie + Co advised Hand Picked Hotels, a portfolio of 15 mainly 4 star hotels throughout the UK, founded by Guy Hands in 1999. The hotels are currently undergoing further development costed at £100 million. The company is aiming to upgrade the properties to be market leaders and to date already half the schemes have been completed.

Valuation of The Kasbah Tamadot, Morocco

The latest addition to Sir Richard Branson’s Limited Edition Collection of Hotels was valued by Christie + Co. Located in the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains, the former colonial fort has been stunningly converted to a luxury 18 bedroom spa/retreat hotel with a dazzling inventory of antique artefacts.

Valuation of Ryder Cup venue

Christie + Co recently valued the lavish Kildare Hotel and Country Club in Ireland, which is to be the venue for the 2006 Ryder Cup. The client was JSG Packaging, which is controlled by US venture capitalists Madison Dearborn. The valuation was completed in preparation for the sale to its founder Dr Michael Smurfit, and Mr Gerard Gannon. The resort hotel has 69 guest rooms/suites and two Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses. It was sold, together with various ancillary properties in Straffan and Dublin, for €115m (£80m).

St Mellion International Hotel, Golf & Country Club

The historic St Mellion International Hotel, Golf and Country Club is renowned for its Jack Nicklaus-designed championship golf course. The club offers a total of 35 holes of golf, a hotel and extensive conference and leisure facilities. Owners and operators, Crown Golf, commissioned Christie + Co’s Hotel Consultancy group to conduct a full diligence feasibility study to report on the demand, and potential performance of, a proposed extension to the clubs facilities.

Battersea Power Station, London

Christie + Co has been advising Parkview International on identifying and selecting an operator for the large convention hotel, which is planned for the east side of Battersea Power Station, in London. The owners have plans to convert the iconic former power station into a large mixed-use complex together with two hotels, a residential complex, offices and an auditorium.

Proposed Ramada Encore, Gateshead

Christie + Co Consultancy was instructed by Hospitality Management International to carry out a feasibility study for a proposed limited-service hotel to be run under the Ramada Encore brand. Our Valuation Services colleagues collaborated on an RICS valuation for the property.

The Brewery, Chiswell Street, London, sells for £55m

Christie + Co sold Whitbread's former HQ in the City of London, for £55m.
A highly competitive marketing strategy and close teamwork resulted in
over 20 bids, with the eventual sale being concluded within four months of instruction. The 250-year-old site incorporated “The Brewery”, a highly successful functions and banqueting suite, 120,000 sq ft of former office space (with planning for 118 serviced apartments) and a variety of investment and development properties in close proximity.

London Bridge Tower

Christie + Co was retained by Sellar Property Group to provide development consultancy and agency advice in respect of the landmark Renzo Piano-designed development, which was to include a luxury hotel on floors 34 to 52 of the 70-storey building. Providing input towards potential operator issues and requirements, Christie + Co assisted in the search and selection process which culminated in the appointment of the Shangri-La hotel group which is to operate a 195-bedroom, 5-Star hotel.

Proposed full-service hotel, Naples Caserta

Christie + Co carried out a full diligence market study culminating in projections of occupancy and average rates for Blue Management & Consulting. The developers plan to build a full-service, 4-Star property in the Naples area.

Clarence Dock, Leeds

Christie + Co was retained by Crosby Homes, part of the Berkeley Group, in respect of a 1,100,000 sq ft mixed-use development adjacent to the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds - to assist with the hotel element of the scheme. Development consultancy advice was initially provided, supported by an open marketing campaign and competitive bidding scenario, culminating in the appointment of IHG's largest branded franchise operator, BDL Management, being selected as the purchaser for a 130-bed Express by Holiday Inn hotel.

Proposed Hyatt, Oporto, Portugal

North American-based Hyatt International commissioned our Hotel Consultancy Team to conduct a hotel market study in Oporto, Portugal. Working together from our Barcelona and London International Offices, our consultants evaluated the hotel development opportunity.

Baden-Baden, Germany

Christie + Co advised the new owner of the former residence of the Margrave of Baden-Baden in Germany. The owner intended to convert the property into a de luxe spa resort with a variety of facilities.

Christie + Co’s work included market research, best-use concepts, an estimation of investment costs, cash flow projections and IRR-calculations. Three different best-use scenarios were analysed, each taking into consideration the historic nature of the building which dates from the 13th and 14th centuries.