Ray White Hotel's Asia Pacific Director, Andrew Jolliffe, has sold the Australian Hotel to Solotel's Bruce Solomon and Matt Moran.

Frasers Property Australia and Sekisui House Australia brought the prime position, multi-level Chippendale hotel to market through an international expression of interest process.

Frasers and Sekisui House are developing the award-winning Central Park site, which is set to house 5,000 new residents once completed. The development already includes hugely popular residential and dining precincts, including Jason Atherton’s Kensington St Social, and Peng Loh's boutique accommodation in the former Old Clare Hotel.

The sale was hotly contested by a number of local, interstate and international hospitality groups, said Jolliffe.

“World-class developments and precincts, not surprisingly, attract world-class operators, and this was certainly true of the international sale process we ran on behalf of our clients Frasers Property and Sekisui House,” said Jolliffe.

“We have enjoyed the benefit of some high-profile campaigns over the past 24 months or so, and as such, we've been fortunate to build a robust database of hospitality experts looking to expand into active entertainment and leisure precincts across the Australian East Coast,” Jolliffe added.

The purchase of the Australian Hotel will see award winning hotelier Bruce Solomon and renowned chef and restaurateur Matt Moran take their award-winning product to new areas of Sydney.

“Both Bruce and Matt have enjoyed considerable success in both Sydney and Brisbane through their ARIA, CHISWICK and Opera Bar businesses to name but a few," said Jolliffe, "and we anticipate their hospitality prowess will again deliver the dynamic Chippendale area with another flagship drawcard upon completion of their Australian Hotel project."

“The depth of both interest and talent in terms of design proposals we received following the conclusion of the sale process was extraordinary, and illustrates the buoyancy within the hospitality and leisure space in gateway cities nationally,” added Jolliffe.

Jolliffe anticipates continued strong market activity across the Asia Pacific region over the next 18 months.

“We find ourselves in a liquid debt market with rates at cyclical lows. The Australian dollar, whilst enjoying some recent augmentation when pegged against the US, is still attractively priced for both investors and tourism participants alike. And Australia remains a comparatively safe harbour and politically stable environment to both travel to and around, as well as invest in,” said Jolliffe.

Jolliffe is the number one salesperson globally in the Ray White Group. The sale of the Australian Hotel brings his Australian hotel sales to approximately $500m so far this financial year. The Ray White Group enjoys annual sales of $35 billion from its 1,000 offices internationally. 

This article first appeared on The Real Estate Conversation.