Landmark Brisbane Hotel Sells for $50 Million

A Sydney-based hospitality group has swooped on a landmark riverside Brisbane hotel at the northern end of the city’s iconic Story Bridge.

Oscars Hotel Group—owned and operated by brothers Bill and Mario Gravanis—has paid $50 million for the Oakwood Hotel and Apartments.

The 11-storey accommodation asset, on a prominent 2966sq m corner site at 15 Ivory Lane, has been offloaded by Singapore's Mapletree Investments, which purchased it in 2015 for $48 million.

Formerly the Adina Brisbane Hotel, its sits above the Howard Smith Wharves precinct and Crystalbrook Vincent Hotel—originally The Fantauzzo—that was purchased last year by Syrian billionaire Ghassan Aboud in a $70-million-plus deal.

The four-star Oakwood Hotel and Apartments comprises 162 suites, a bistro, business centre, gym and pool but its new owners are expected to undertake a major revamp to capitalise on its prime location within the popular riverside precinct.

Its latest change-of-hands adds momentum to the rising wave of southern property players seeking geographic diversification due to the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria.

Industry experts predict the flow of capital into Queensland’s property sector will continue its groundswell over coming years in the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

The Gravanis brothers—known as Sydney’s kings of hospitality with a portfolio of more than 30 venues across NSW—made their big move into Queensland in May, snapping up Long Island in the Whitsundays for circa $20 million.

They are planning a new resort project for the island off Airlie Beach.

Oscars Hotel Group was established in 1986 with the acquisition of a single pub in Sydney’s inner-west.

Its purchases of Brisbane's Oakwood Hotel and Apartments and the Whitsunday's Long Island are part of a strategic expansion to gain northern exposure in the tourism and hospitality sector.

CBRE Hotel’s national director Wayne Bunz negotiated the deal.