Darwin Resort with PBSA Upside Comes to Market

A long-established hotel in the Northern Territory with potential to convert to student accommodation has come to market.

The Travelodge Resort Darwin at 64 Cavenagh Street in Darwin City comprises 224 rooms, including 32 townhouses, and resort amenities that include five swimming pools, the Treetops Restaurant, conference and events facilities, gymnasium, sun deck and barbecue area, and 115 carparking spaces.

The property was built in 1987 and extensively renovated in 2020.

It has street frontages on four sides.

The hotel is being brought to market by Savills Australia and New Zealand and Knight Frank with an expressions-of-interest campaign that is due to close on July 25.

Savills ANZ managing director, hotel capital markets, Mark Durran said an incoming buyer could add value to the “income-producing asset by repurposing or implementing a change of use”.

“The 1.31ha site has advantageous zoning allowing near-term student-accommodation use as well as longer-term redevelopment opportunities,” Durran said.

There are more than 5600 international students studying in the NT contributing about $169 million a year to the Territory economy, according to Savills.

Savills ANZ director, operational capital markets, Paul Savitz said Darwin was an undersupplied student accommodation market, with the highest student per PBSA bed ratio in the country, at 33 students to each bed, according to the Property Council of Australia.

▲ The hotel is opposite the Charles Darwin University campus in the Darwin CBD.

“With Charles Darwin University (CDU) and the Government aiming to grow international students to 10,000 by 2030, the already severe shortfall of student accommodation will only get worse with no new accommodation to open in the near term,” Savitz said.

“With the Travelodge Darwin located opposite the new $250-million CDU City Campus, the hotel can operate as student accommodation with little modification and be ready to welcome students in time for when the campus is expected to open in the third semester of this year.”

Durran said on the back of the 2020 $4-million refurbishment, the Travelodge Resort Darwin “is positioned superbly for future growth”.

“For the full year 2023, the Darwin market achieved a 33 per cent RevPAR [revenue per available room] premium versus to 2019, mainly based on ADR [average daily rate] growth, and Savills expect occupancy to continue to recover through the end of 2024 and in 2025 as inbound international travel rebounds.”