Union Investment has secured an option to acquire the shares in Royale 120 New Building SA and Royale 120 SA, two Belgian companies engaged in the development of the first hotel operated by Motel One in Brussels.
Union Investment has secured an option to acquire the shares in Royale 120 New Building SA and Royale 120 SA, two Belgian companies engaged in the development of the first hotel operated by Motel One in Brussels.
Let on a long-term lease, the 490-room hotel was developed by Besix Real Estate Development and currently under construction by Besix, Belgium's biggest construction group. If the option is exercised, the transfer of the shares in both Belgian companies to the open-ended real estate fund UniInstitutional European Real Estate is scheduled to take place after completion in 2014.
This would be Union Investment's fourth investment in the budget and midscale hotel segment. 'We would be delighted to be involved in Motel One's expansion into other countries,' said Frank Billand, a member of the management board at Union Investment Real Estate. Valued at a total of EUR 1.5 bn, Union Investment's hotel portfolio also includes the Motel One in Hamburg's Neustadt district and two Holiday Inn Express properties in Hamburg and Dresden.
The Brussels Motel One hotel is being built in a central location on Rue Royale. It provides some 14,075 m2 of space as well as retail facilities and underground parking spaces long-leased to Besix Park, an external operator.
Besix RED was advised by CBRE, Allen & Overy as well as Liedekerke and Union Investment by Clifford Chance and RSM International.
