All Topics / Commercial Property / Serviced Apartments Project Query
Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice about serviced apartments.
I have a small development project complete with DA & BA close to Brisbane Airport which I have just put on the market last week and I am wondering if I should be marketing it towards people who want to own and operate a boutique serviced apartment business. I mentioned it to the agent who I have it listed with and he seems to have no clue about how to market it as a business/investment opportunity to prospective accommodation providers.
The current DA is for a boutique development for 3 executive style terrace houses, each with:
3 Bedrooms / 3 full sized Bathrooms / Double Lock Up Garages and each have Private Rooftop Garden/Entertainment Terraces with awesome bay, airport and gateway views! There is also 3 onsite visitor car parks.
The design means it could easily be managed like dual/tri key apartments you see in resort projects. If only one bedroom was needed then the other two bedrooms could be locked so they cannot be accessed. So it could be easily rented to anyone wanting one bedroom, two bedroom or three bedroom accommodation. So there is a potential business opportunity. The close proximity to the airport and highly visible location is a huge plus for short term accommodation.
There is a large motel not too far away and the people who own that expanded a few years ago to meet demand and part of that expansion was 3 bedroom townhouses to meet the needs for families and larger groups which they rent for about $450 a night (their price varies depending on how many people). They rent their 1 bedrooms for $160 per night. It's seems to be very successful business and it’s located on a much busier road, it is successful because it is convenient to the airport not because it is anything flash to stay in (well that is what numerous reviews on trip advisor say is it main appeal)
Although this is only a small boutique project when they are built they will significantly devalue the two adjoining houses so if the operator purchased those 2 adjoining properties they could develop those sites at a later date and turn it into a much larger motel/accommodation business with a mix of accomodation styles. And if the 2 adjoining houses were bought and developed then you would have 3 street access.
I decided to put it on the market because being a single, self employed woman I can't get the finance to do the build without selling 1 off the plan and I don't want to do that. I would be happy to actually retain one for myself to live in, as that was what I originally intended to do. I'm self employed and I work from a home office so if someone wanted a passive investment then I would be happy to manage it and keep an eye on it for them.
Does anyone have experience in serviced apartments? Do you think someone would be interested operating a small boutique development such as this a serviced accommodation business?
Any advice about which way to proceed would be greatly appreciated.
You might try to contact some of the smaller operators in this field to see if there is any interest. You could do this by checking out who operates this type of accommodation across Brisbane.
There are a number of operators doing so up further north. Might pay to find the developer of these and have a chat
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