Singapore fund First Sponsor Group has reached agreement with French REIT Klépierre to buy 11,600 m² of space in shopping centre Hoog Catharijne in the central Dutch city of Utrecht to realise two hotels.
Under the deal, First Sponsor will pay €26.4 mln for seven storeys of the Poortgebouw, which forms part of Hoog Catharijne, the massive shopping centre being redeveloped by Klépierre.
The Singapore-based investor plans to realise 320 hotel rooms in the building together with Borealis Hotel Group, which will be offered under two brands: Hampton by Hilton or similar (192 rooms) and another label, likely to be Crown Plaza (128 rooms).
First Sponsor will partly forward fund the hotel development, which is not its first acquisition in the sector in the Netherlands. In 2015 the group acquired the Arena Towers in southeast Amsterdam, housing a Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, for €55 mln.
CBRE advised First Sponsor on the transaction in Utrecht.
Borealis Hotel Group is owned by Bart van de Kamp, former owner of The Vincent Hotel Group (TVHG) which he sold in 2015. Borealis is also developing the QO and HIEX hotels in Amsterdam and Indigo in The Hague. The company also manages the existing Novotel in Hoofddorp and en Ibis Budget Hotel in Amstelveen.
