Henderson Park and Hines have completed the sale of Grand Hyatt Athens to funds managed by Blackstone Real Estate for €235 million.
On Syngrou Avenue near Athens’ popular Koukaki district, the hotel has become a destination for both leisure and business travellers in Athens, benefitting from the Greek capital’s position as one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations, with over 4.5 million visitors a year.
Henderson Park and Hines acquired the property as the 315-key Ledra Marriott in June 2017 having identified an opportunity to undertake a significant upgrade and repositioning of the asset, capitalising on its heritage as one of Athens’ top five hotels since its construction in 1984. The acquisition marked both firms' entry into the Greek market.
The pair have completed an extensive renovation and expansion of the hotel, increasing the number of keys to 548 through the acquisition of the adjacent property, which allowed for an extension. In addition to upgrading the rooms and suites, the common areas and amenities were revamped including the roof-top restaurant and pool, which offers panoramic views of the city and world-famous Acropolis. The final product also offers 4,400 square metres of meeting and conference space.
The hotel is Blackstone's its 10th location in Greece, a leisure market with huge potential. Blackstone continues to invest significant capital in leisure through its portfolio company, Hotel Investment Partners, one of the biggest owners of resort hotels in Southern Europe. Since acquisition, it has invested over €750 million in strategic asset management initiatives to reposition its portfolio. Founded in 2015, the company is owned by funds managed by Blackstone and GIC, and has a portfolio of 73 leisure assets totaling more than 22,000 keys across Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal.
JLL and Eastdil Secured jointly advised on the sale.