The global property services firm CBRE advised the investment and asset manager Primonial REIM France and its consultants Hova Hospitality on the long-term let of the Holiday Inn Dresden am Zwinger to LFPI Hotels.
All current staff are to be retained by LFPI Hotels. The Holiday Inn brand will also remain under a franchise agreement with franchisor IHG. Additional investment to improve the hotel was agreed in the negotiations.
The hotel building, previously an office block, was originally built in the 1950s. In 2015, it was completely gutted and converted into a 144-room hotel. Brühl's Terrace and the River Elbe and a number of other major historical sights are just a few minutes' walk away.
Philipp Bessler, director of LFPI Hotels Deutschland Beteiligungs GmbH, explains that "the city of Dresden, an internationally famous and popular destination for business and leisure travellers, and the hotel's central location right beside the famous Zwinger palace and Semperoper, exactly meet our location criteria. This acquisition is further strengthening our position in eastern Germany."
"It is great that we can continue our long-term commitment to this unique location even after the takeover of the Holiday Inn Dresden – am Zwinger through our partners at LFPI", says Robert van der Graaf, development director at IHG Hotels & Resorts, adding that "Dresden is a key hotel market for both business and leisure travellers and therefore an important location for the Holiday Inn brand. We would like to thank everyone who made the transition so smooth and CBRE for handling the process on behalf of the lessor."
The hotel market in Dresden suffered in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Overnight stays were down by more than half at 2.2 million compared to 4.7 million in 2019. Now that most pandemic-related restrictions have been lifted, Dresden's hotel market is expected to recover. Pre-pandemic, foreign visitors were a major driver, accounting for 20 percent of business.
"Hova was able to ensure a smooth transition from the previous to the new lessee and secure a long-term tenancy agreement with LFPI. This was exactly in keeping with Primonial REIM France strategy", says Gael le Lay, CEO of Hova Hospitality.
"Considering the difficult environment in the past two years, this project underlines just how attractive the hotel market in Dresden is", adds Olivia Kaussen, head of CBRE Hotels in Germany. "We are excited to have completed another successful round of lease negotiations and would like to thank all parties for their input."
HoganLovells provided legal advice to Primonial REIM France and CMS for LFPI.
About Primonial REIM
Primonial REIM has more than 400 employees in France, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, Singapore and the United Kingdom and works with commitment and expertise at a European level to develop and manage property funds for its domestic and international clients – which include both private investors and institutions.
Primonial REIM manages more than 32 billion euros in assets. The portfolio is 47% office space, 31% health and education facilities, 8% retail property, 9% residential accommodation and 5% hotels. The pan-European platform manages 61 funds with more than 80,000 investors, 54% of whom are private individuals and 46% institutional investors. There are more than 1,400 properties in the portfolio in ten different European countries.
About Hova
Hova Hospitality is a company specialised in the hotel industry. The company's business covers both the acquisition of hotel properties in Europe and asset management for hotel properties worth € 1.3 billion. Hova is managed by Dominique Ozanne and Gaël Le Lay.
About LFPI
The Paris-based LFPI Group (La Financière Patrimoniale d’Investissement) is a European private equity group that currently manages assets of more than twelve billion euros. LFPI invests primarily for institutional investors in private equity, property, funds of funds and mezzanine funds. The German subsidiary of LFPI Hotels focuses mainly on going concerns; two to four-star city hotels in town centres with around 50 to 150 rooms. LFPI Hotels Management Deutschland is based in Cologne and currently operates 18 hotels in cities including Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dresden, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart and Aachen and is aiming to expand its portfolio to 20 to 30 hotels in the next few years. Expansion in central European countries such as Austria, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic is also planned.
About CBRE
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world's largest property services and investment company (based on turnover figures for the 2021 financial year). With more than 105,000 employees (excluding Turner & Townsend staff) in over 100 countries, the company provides integrated services to its wide customer base across the entire property life cycle: from strategic, technical and business consultancy, for example on purchase, sale and leasing, to the development, management and valuation of property and transaction, project, facility and investment management.
CBRE Deutschland opened its head office in Frankfurt am Main in 1973, and operates branches in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Essen, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart.