Blackstone pays €235m for revamped Grand Hyatt Athens

Private equity property firm Henderson Park and Hines have sold the Grand Hyatt Athens to funds managed by Blackstone Real Estate for €235 million.

The hotel, located on Syngrou Avenue near the Koukaki district of Athens, is a premier destination for leisure and business visitors. Henderson Park and Hines acquired the then Ledra Marriott in June 2017 and renovated and extended it, increasing the number of keys from 315 to 548 having acquired an adjacent site.

Rooms and suites were upgraded and common areas and amenities were transformed including the roof-top restaurant and pool. The hotel also now has 4,400 sq m (47,000 sq ft) of meeting and conference space.

The acquisition is Blackstone’s tenth hotel location in Greece and the US investment manager continues to invest significant capital in leisure through its portfolio company, Hotel Investment Partners (HIP), one of the leading owners of resort hotels in Southern Europe.

Since Blackstone’s acquisition of HIP, it has invested over €750 million in strategic asset management initiatives to reposition the portfolio. Founded in 2015, the company is owned by funds managed by Blackstone and GIC. The portfolio comprises 73 leisure assets totalling more than 22,000 keys across Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal.

James Seppala, head of real estate Europe at Blackstone, said: “Athens is one of Europe’s fastest growing hotel markets and we are delighted to add this unique and newly renovated landmark hotel to our growing hotel portfolio. The hotel further complements our ownership of the largest resort hotel portfolio group in Southern Europe, which continues to benefit from a rebound in business travel and tourism, giving us confidence to deploy capital with conviction.”

JLL and Eastdil Secured jointly advised on the sale.