Alex started his career with Resort Brokers in 2011, working primarily in the management rights sector. He has specialised in covering the northern end of the Gold Coast, from Coomera down to Surfers Paradise, and inland to suburbs such as Pacific Pines and Arundel.

Alex is one of the most most prolific management rights agents in Australia, having sold around 150 businesses for a combined value well in excess of $1/4 BN over the last seven years.

Along the way he has notched up several record-breaking benchmarks and has acted on some of the most noteworthy transactions in the industry.

These include Soul (Surfers Paradise, GC), The Beach Apartments (Broadbeach, GC), Beach Haven (Broadbeach, GC) and Australia 108 (Southbank, Melbourne).

Often in conjunction with his brother-in-law Tim Crooks, much of this work is on behalf of developers in regards to significant off-the-plan management rights sales.

In particular, Alex (and Tim) are now focussing much of their efforts on the growth market in Melbourne. 

Click here to view Alex Cook's contact details and listings on The Hotel Page.

How did you get into the Hotels and Management Rights industry?

Effectively, I married into it. My father-in-law is the founder and director of Resort Brokers, Ian Crooks. Shortly after I married his daughter Carla, he offered me a role covering management rights on the Gold Coast. I had been living in London for several years working in commercial real estate and was ready for a change.

So in 2010, I took him up on his offer and we relocated across the world.

What are some of your career highlights from your time in the industry?

• Selling the management right to Soul on the Gold Coast to Mantra for what was then a record price of $25.7M.
• Selling the off-the-plan management rights to The Beach Apartments Broadbeach to Minor Hotels (later to become AVANI Broadbeach) for a record ‘per key’ price.
• Selling Emandar’s portfolio at Harbour Quays / East Quays, comprising of 654 apartments, probably the largest permanent management rights transaction on record.
• Selling AVANT and Australia 108 in Melbourne on behalf of World Class Land, the most significant recent management rights transactions in Melbourne.

What are the biggest issues facing the Management Rights sector in Australia?

It varies considerably depending on what state your looking at. But generally speaking, competition from external agents in becoming an increasing issue, particularly in regards to off-the-plan sales, which is an area I focus on.

Historically, purchasers of new management rights business would find it relatively easy to secure letting appointments from investor owners.

In recent times, selling agent agents (particularly large groups) have been diversifying into property management and are looking to manage the apartments they have sold moving forward.

As they have the initial relationship with the owners, they often succeed. This takes money out of developers pockets, and generally translates to an inferior quality of management for the owner…which is a shame. We have been advising developers of various measures that can be taken to prevent this from happening.

Another point (as with most areas of business nowadays) is the tightening lending environment. Although I don’t feel this will have any impact on the larger operators at the top end of the market, I think it is already having an impact on small to mid-size operators (typically private).

The increasing level of scrutiny imposed by banks providing finance is certainly slowing transactions down, and possibly even pushing certain buyers out of the market. This hasn’t effected value as yet, but time will tell.

What trends do you expect will emerge within the next decade?

Increasing corporatisation at the top of end of the market will undoubtedly continue.

We all know the names of the handful of big players in the management rights industry, but with existing hotel companies looking to expand into the sector, as well as more and more funds and syndicates emerging with the financial capacity to take on the big players, there will be an increasing number of operators looking to secure the large-scale, trophy, high-end management rights businesses.

This will drive value at the top end of the market, particularly in emerging markets such as Melbourne where prices have been comparably low.

Generally speaking, I also expect developers in states where management rights has been less prevalent in the past (Victoria, South Australia, ACT) to become more educated to the management rights industry, and to look increasingly favourably on establishing management rights structures over their projects.

So I think there will be more opportunities for management rights operators in places they hadn’t previously considered.

What changes would you like to see over the next two to five years in the industry?

Following on from the point above, I would like to see a broader understanding of the power of management rights to deliver a balanced win-win situation for all stakeholders in new developments – developer, unit owners, operators – particularly in states outside of Queensland where I am constantly surprised how little developers know about management rights, and the often incorrect preconceptions they have about the industry.

A lot of my focus at the moment (in conjunction with my colleague Tim Crooks), is to get in front of developers and to educate them in regards to exactly what management rights is and what it can offer.

What is your favourite hotel and holiday destination?

Hard to pin one down. Favourite Hotels… Mondrian, LA; W, Bali; Amfora, Hvar; Anantara; Langkawi; Sofitel; Noosa; any Spicers; and I think The Calile in Brisbane…although I’ll have to wait until it opens before I can confirm that. Favourite holiday destinations… Noosa, Byron Bay, Queenstown, Bali

See also:

Get to know Tim Crooks of Resort Brokers Australia

Vue Terrace Homes Gold Coast management rights sold Alex Cook Resort Brokers Australia

Get to know Leanne Harwood, Managing Director of IHG Australasia and Japan