QT Hotels Revealed as Buyer of $6M Hunter Valley Vineyard Loggerheads
The hotel chain bought the 39-hectare property in December last year, adding to a portfolio of eight properties. Photo: Supplied
Boutique hotel group QT Hotels & Resorts is the buyer of Loggerheads, one of the Hunter Valley’s most impressive estates, Commercial Real Estate can reveal.
The company paid $6 million for the 39-hectare property in December last year, sources have told Commercial Real Estate, adding to a portfolio of eight properties, including hotels in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Port Douglas, the Gold Coast and Wellington.
The vineyard has one of the best locations in the Hunter Valley. Photo: Supplied
Even before the sale, Loggerheads had demonstrated serious star pulling power: supermodel Miranda Kerr rented the estate for a family holiday in Christmas 2015.
QT is owned by Event Hospitality & Entertainment, one of Australia’s largest leisure and hospitality conglomerates, with brands including Greater Union and Event cinemas, Rydges Hotels & Resorts and Atura Hotels.
Since the first QT hotel opened in 2011, the brand has made a name for itself as a purveyor of glamorous hospitality with lashings of quirkiness.
The Gold Coast and Port Douglas properties, for example, channel a tropical vibe, while the Sydney CBD hotel in the Gowings and State Theatre buildings offers a more theatrical ambience – complete with flame-red wigs for the staff.
Loggerheads was established by the late winemaking legend Len Evans on land he bought in the 1970s from the Tyrrell family of winemakers. After Evans’s death, his widow Trish sold it to former Macquarie director Robin Crawford and his wife Judy in 2008.
The property was originally owned by Len Evans. Photo: Supplied
The estate includes a 35-year-old vineyard, as well as a seven-bedroom homestead designed by architect Michael Suttor and a Paul Bangay-designed garden with a summer house, swimming pool and orchard.
An adjoining 48-hectare property recently sold to Petersons Wines for $4.25 million.
Agent Alan Jurd of Jurds Real Estate, who managed both sales, says Loggerheads is widely regarded as having the best position in Pokolbin.
“It’s right in the centre of Pokolbin yet it’s very private, on an elevated ridge with 360-degrees views,” Mr. Jurd said.
The Hunter Valley market took a battering post-GFC but Mr. Jurd said it started to fire again about 12 months ago, driven by low interest rates and Sydney’s robust property market.
“All this money being made on the sale of Sydney property is finding its way out,” Mr. Jurd said.
Big-name acts performing at vineyards in the Hunter Valley also boost awareness of the area.
QT, which also plans to open hotels in Queenstown (late 2017), Perth (2018) and Parramatta (2019), declined to comment on the sale.
In a 2014 interview, Event Hospitality and Entertainment managing director David Seargeant, told Australian Gourmet Traveller that luxury – from affordable to high-end – was back in demand: “Travel used to have a magic about it, and I think we’re recapturing the magic.”
SOURCE: Commercial Real Estate
POSTED: February 24, 2017
AUTHOR: Elicia Murray
@Luxury Estates – experts on visionary marketing of Australia’s most luxurious real estate for sale
