(accor Plans Sofitel Chain)
The Age
Wednesday March 23, 1994
Accor plans Sofitel chain.
Accor Asia Pacific is looking at bringing its premier Sofitel five- star hotel chain to Australia. Accor already operates 43 hotels in Australia with the four-star Novotel and three-star Ibis hotels. The chief executive of Accor Asia Pacific, Mr Koos Klein, said of the Sofitel move, ``If the opportunities arise we will pursue them." He said Melbourne, Sydney or Auckland were the likely sites for the first Sofitel hotel. ``Any of these three cities, and we would also be interested in five-star resorts under the Sofitel brand," he said.
Accor operates more than 2200 hotels in 132 countries and employs more than 140,000 people. Worldwide total turnover for the calendar year 1993 was about $20billion.
Golf expansion.
Asian property investors are checking out of their hotel rooms, grabbing their golf clubs and sizing up our greens, according to Colliers Jardine's managing director of hotels and leisure, Mr Michael Allen. He said 90 per cent of the tourism property sold last year was to Asian interests, and he expected this to continue. ``With most major hotels now sold, Asian investors will now look at other types of tourism investments such as golf courses," Mr Allen said. The potential is further increased with the average green fees in Australia ranging from $10 to $40 compared with fees well over 10 times this in many Asian countries. Mr Allen said private clubs were beginning to earn substantial capital through membership subscription.
``Initial membership ranges from $1000 for standard facilities up to $35,000," he said. ``This compared with American, European and Asian countries where subscription can be $200,000." He said few Australian golf courses changed hands last year. Those that were sold went for prices 35 to 50 per cent below replacement cost. ``The return on sales which have occurred have shown yields from eight to 15 per cent on a fair market income," he said.
Wesley prep.
Wesley College plans to build a preparatory school on its Union Street site on St Kilda Road - effectively taking out a potential office development site from the boulevard. Building one, the first stage, is expected to start later this year and be completed in time for the 1996 year, Wesley College's principal, Mr Glen McArthur, said.
According to Cityscope, Wesley College bought the island site - surrounded by St Kilda Road, Henry Street, Punt Road and Union Street - for $2.6million in 1992. Mr McArthur said the rise of the inner-city residential market was one of the factors which prompted the development. The architect for the project is Daryl Jackson.
Kelly returns.
The architect Mr Mark Kelly has returned to Australia to become one of the directors of the Melbourne office of Woods Bagot. British-born Mr Kelly, 33, an honors graduate from Edinburgh University, worked in Australia for several years before returning to his home country. He worked in Darwin, Sydney and Perth designing a number of big projects including the $45million Cathay Pacific Data Centre in Sydney and a series of Optus switching centres.
Heine closing date.
Heine Management has notified the Australian Stock Exchange that the closing date for the Heine Industrial Property Trust's books is 31March 1994 for income distributions for the March 1994 quarter.
© 1994 The Age
