Henderson Park, the European real estate investment platform, founded by Nick Weber, and international real estate firm Hines have agreed upon a franchise agreement with an affiliate of Hyatt Hotels Corporation for the former Ledra Hotel in central Athens, which will be operated as a Grand Hyatt hotel, one of the leading premium global hospitality brands. Henderson Park and Hines acquired the former five-star hotel in June 2017, in what was the first investment into the Greek market for both companies.
Centrally located on Sygrou Avenue in Athens and benefitting from the Greek capital’s position as one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations with over 4.5 million visitors a year, the hotel is currently undergoing a major redevelopment. Henderson Park and Hines have already stripped the hotel back to its core and shell and reconstruction is currently underway, with this prime new state-of-the-art hotel due for delivery in Q3 2018.
Once complete, the transformed hotel will reflect the site’s longstanding reputation for luxury and will be one of three Grand Hyatt hotels in Europe, and the first in Greece. The relaunched establishment will offer 309 well-appointed hotel rooms and suites across ten floors, and a roof-top restaurant and pool with panoramic views of the city and the Acropolis.
The specialist asset manager of upscale and luxury hotels, Kokari Limited, part of the Y&T Daskalantonakis Knossian Group, has been instructed as operating partner, responsible for managing the hotel.
Nick Weber, Founding Partner of Henderson Park, said: “Our investment into the hotel was driven by a recognition of both its preeminent standing as an historic luxury asset as well as by the huge potential we believed it offered. Our success in attracting the Grand Hyatt brand, one of the world’s leading premium brands, to the newly redeveloped hotel is entirely fitting with the its rich heritage and a thorough endorsement of our ambitious repositioning strategy. Grand Hyatt Athens will be a strong addition to Henderson Park’s €2.0 billion portfolio of iconic European hotels and we hope that this agreement will mark just the first stage of building a rewarding long-term relationship with Hyatt.”
Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe, said: “The purchase of the hotel played to Hines’ strengths of repositioning and asset management, undertaking a major renovation to deliver high-quality hotel accommodation in the centre of Athens. Our decision to enter a franchise agreement with Hyatt is the next stage of that repositioning, bringing the global Grand Hyatt brand to the Greek market for the first time – a testament of the attractiveness of the asset. Hines has been actively assessing opportunities in the Greek market for some time and we continue to seek out investment options.”
Paul Gomopoulos, Managing Director, Hines Greece, added: “We are delighted to work with Hyatt, a global brand which is undoubtedly the right fit with the right product for the market. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership to deliver an outstanding luxury hotel in Athens.”
