The Blackrock UK Property Fund has completed its off market acquisition of the new 178-guestroom Hilton Garden Inn, Birmingham Airport, for an undisclosed sum.
The newly constructed hotel has been sold under management contract with Castlebridge Hotels, which will retain operational responsibility under a franchise agreement with the Hilton Garden Inn brand.
Lambert Smith Hampton’s hotel team brokered the deal with Blackrock and JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group advised Castlebridge Hotels, a subsidiary of Wylam Investments Ltd.
Paul Tebbit, Portfolio Manager Blackrock UK Property Fund said: “The Hilton Garden Inn, Birmingham Airport provides all the characteristics which we were seeking in a hotel investment. The purpose built and internationally branded hotel benefits from its strategic location immediately adjacent to Birmingham International Airport which is expected to see passenger numbers grow to in excess of 27m per annum by 2030. We also expect to see the hotel benefit from the opening of High Speed 2 in 2026 which will connect the airport to central London in under 50 mins. The exciting news that Birmingham will be host city to the Commonwealth Games will also strengthen performance during 2022, as well as the ongoing attraction of the National Exhibition Centre. We look forward to working with the Castlebridge Hotels team to unlock the future trading potential from the hotel.
Jenna Dienn, Castlebridge Hotels, added: “The Hilton Garden Inn, Birmingham Airport will benefit from an excellent mix of both corporate and leisure demand generators. We are delighted to have agreed terms with Blackrock which will allow Castlebridge to retain management of the hotel and extends our properties under management to 6 hotels and 694 rooms across Europe. We are currently working on several further developments which will deliver 780 guest rooms in the future.
Hugh Anderson, Director, Lambert Smith Hampton: “The proposition that we introduced to Blackrock provides a rare opportunity to acquire a newly completed Hilton Garden Inn hotel, benefiting from an on terminal location and ideally placed to capitalise on the strength of the market opportunity provided by Birmingham Airport. We feel that this deal is representative of the strong investment appetite for internationally branded corporate hotels, with commercially viable operational structures.”
Kerr Young, Director, JLL’s Hotel & Hospitality Group: “We are delighted to have advised Castlebridge Hotels on this off market disposal. The sale of the Hilton Garden Inn, Birmingham Airport further supports the trend of inward investment to the hotel sector from institutional capital as investors seek well researched investment opportunities that provide attractive yields with long term growth prospects compared with mainstream assets classes. We anticipate this trend to continue over the coming months and years as institutional investors become more educated about the benefits of operational hotel investments.”
Freeths LLP acted as legal advisers to Castlebridge Hotels and CMS acted for Blackrock.