The Oxford Castle Quarter, housing Malmaison Oxford, has been put up for sale with a guide price of £30.94m.
CBRE has been appointed by the Westgate Partnership to market the site which comprises a 95-bedroom hotel and 39,134 sq ft of leisure units.
The hotel is secured by a turnover-linked lease with Malmaison and the estate is fully let, with a weighted average unexpired lease term of 14.8 years.
CBRE has stated that the hotel benefits from the Oxford hotel market’s exceptionally high barriers to entry, which result in limited new hotel supply. This supply-constrained environment, coupled with the city’s appeal to approximately eight million international visitors annually, strongly supports the hotel’s sustained revenue growth.
The site’s rich heritage dates back to its origins as a Royal Castle in 1071. After serving as a prison between 1785 and 1996, the property underwent a major conversion and was first opened as a hotel and leisure complex in 2006.
Joe Hankin, senior director, capital markets at CBRE UK, said: “There are seldom opportunities to acquire assets as distinctive as Oxford Castle Quarter, which offers a long-let hotel and leisure investment opportunity located in Oxford’s city centre. This market is particularly strong and attracts significant investment from global capital, which will likely support diverse investor interest in Oxford Castle Quarter.”
Frasers, which acquired Malmaison 10 years ago for £363m, announced an auction of the hotel group earlier this year, which is being handled by commercial property agent Cushman and Wakefield.
