The Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok has been sold for an undisclosed price to the private Thailand-based Bhiraj Buri Group, according to JLL (NYSE: JLL) Hotels & Hospitality. JLL represented the sellers, Boutique Corporations PLC and Ascott Limited, throughout the transaction.
The property is located within the prime Asoke Sukhumvit district of Bangkok within walking distance to both BTS skytrain and MRT underground. Citadines Sukhumvit 23 Bangkok was sold with a total of 138 keys and the purchase marks Bhriaj Buri's first serviced apartment acquisition.
"Thailand's hotel market holds a perennial attraction to investors and we have seen investment activity recovering faster than other Southeast Asian markets," says Chakkrit Chakrabandhu Na Ayudhya, Executive Vice President, Investment Sales, Asia Pacific, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group.
"Prices of investment-grade hotel assets in Bangkok have held their ground throughout this period with generally no deep discounts relative to pre-pandemic levels. As we enter this transition phase, we expect investment volumes to increase in 2022 and foreign investor interest will become a bigger part due to a major easing of border restrictions since the beginning of November," he adds.
According to JLL data, Thailand hotel transactions have rebounded sharply in 2021. The company forecasts over 20 hospitality assets with a total of around 3,000 keys, worth a combined THB12 billion (US$363.6 million), to be transacted across the country in 2021, versus THB1.9 billion (US$56.9 million) in 2020. In addition, 95% of the transaction sizes in 2021 are expected to range between THB500 million (US$15.1 million) and THB1 billion ($30.3 million).
"JLL is delighted to have advised on this milestone transaction for a highly-sought Bangkok asset. As evidenced by approximately 20 investors signing the confidentiality agreement for additional information, we are seeing the improvement in market conditions and remain confident that positive sentiment will remain," says Pimpanga Yomchinda, Vice President, Investment Sales, Asia, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group.
JLL's Hotels and Hospitality Group is Asia Pacific's leading hotel investment advisor with a dedicated team of more than 80 hospitality and investment sales professionals based out of 14 offices in the region. Ranked #1 investment advisor in Asia Pacific for 10 consecutive years by Real Capital Analytics, JLL has advised on US$23 billion of hotel sales over the past decade, representing over 50% share of all brokered hotel transactions. JLL is also the number one hotel transactional advisor in Thailand having advised over THB 40 billion (US$1.2 billion) of hotel transactions from 2010 to-date