After offices and shopping centres, Groupe Mach is now interested in hotels.
He acquired the InterContinental hotel in Old Montreal on Wednesday.
The 357-room establishment located near the Palais des Congrès was paid for around 80 million, a price that amounts to approximately $225,000 per room. The sale concerns both the real estate asset and the hotel business.
The seller is the Swedish company Pandox. She became the owner in 2007 by paying 49 million to InterContinental and the Cadim division of the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec.
The Mach Group will take care of the operation of the prestigious hotel. “This is a first for us,” says its president, Vincent Chiara, on the phone. Other acquisitions may follow in due course.
The contract with the InterContinental brand has just been renewed and Mach has agreed with the general manager of the hotel, Martin Leclerc, on the terms of a long-term contract.
Mr. Chiara said he likes the value of real estate assets. He argues that the replacement value of the hotel is two to three times the price paid.
“It’s an asset that needs refreshing,” he says. Works of 20 to 25 million will be carried out over the next three years. The rooms will be redone, as well as the common areas.
It should be noted that Groupe Mach is acquiring the hotel alone. As a result, the Saputo family, with which Mach often collaborates in real estate transactions, is not a party to the InterContinental transaction, assures Mr. Chiara.
26 floors
Built in 1991, the InterContinental hotel, located at 360, rue Saint-Antoine Ouest, consists of two buildings. The most recent, consisting of a 26-storey tower, includes rooms and suites, while the oldest, called the Nordheimer and dating from 1888, houses the conference and reception rooms.
The InterContinental includes two gourmet restaurants as well as a business center offering more than 25,000 sq.2 conference and event spaces.
The building offers a total area of 325,000 sq.2 and is annexed to the Montreal World Trade Center.
Groupe Mach manages a portfolio of more than 240 buildings, including flagship buildings such as the Sun Life Building, 1000 De La Gauchetière, the CIBC tower, Place Victoria and the KPMG tower in Montreal, or the Complexe Jules- Dallaire and the Place de la Cité, in Quebec. Mach has made inroads in Ontario and the Maritimes in recent months.