IGIS Asset Management Co., one of Asia’s largest real estate investment firms, is set to sell a four-star hotel in Myeong-dong, a popular spot for foreign tourists in Seoul, amid the rising interest in South Korea’s accommodation sector among investors thanks to the stable growth in the local tourism.
IGIS on Thursday sent requests for proposals (RFPs) to property advisors to sell Four Points by Sheraton Josun, Seoul Myeongdong, according to investment banking industry sources.
The leading South Korean real estate asset manager plans to select a preferred bidder this month.
The hotel, a 26-story building with three underground floors with a total floor area of 21,658 square meters, has 375 rooms and other facilities.
It is leased and operated by Josun Hotels & Resorts Co., a subsidiary of South Korea’s largest supermarket chain E-Mart Inc. Its lease expires in 2040.
HOTEL IN SOUTH KOREA’S SUPER-PRIME REAL ESTATE
Investors at home and abroad are reportedly interested in the property as it is a relatively new four-star hotel in Myeong-dong, super-prime real estate in the country, industry sources said.
IGIS bought Four Points by Sheraton Josun, Seoul Myeongdong for 166.5 billion won ($115.1 million) from a local property developer SK D&D Co. in 2020.
IGIS raised money for the acquisition through a real estate fund created by the National Pension Service (NPS) in 2016. The asset manager put up the hotel for sale as the fund is set to expire.
Investment in South Korean hotels is booming thanks to a recovery in tourism.
Hotel transactions in the country were predicted to jump 35% to 2.2 trillion won this year from 1.6 trillion won in 2024, up more than three times from the previous year, according to global real estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL).
By Gyeong-Jin Min
min@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.
