A valuation of the portfolio by three independent groups last month put them at A$513 million ($440.4 million). This does not include the 139-room Alice Springs Resort, in Alice Springs; the 86-room Cradle Mountain Lodge, in Tasmania; and Wrotham Park Lodge, a 10-room facility in Western Queensland, which are set for valuation next year and in 2010.
Highlights of the valued properties include the 930 Ayers Rock Resort, near the famous rock formation in the middle of the country, and five island resorts by the Great Barrier Reef. GPT is looking to sell the properties to focus on its core portfolio, which is mostly made up of retail and office assets. Marketing of the properties is expected to end in October.
One non-core property that GPT is not marketing, at least not in this package, is a 576-room Four Points By Sheraton in Sydney. That property was valued at just more than $251 million last March.
Hotel and tourism properties make up 6% of GPT's total portfolio. GPT and JLL executives are saying that a movie called "Australia" coming out later this year--starting Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman--will, in part, fuel a renewed tourism interest in the country.
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