A buyer has been found for Luke Saraceni’s New Esplanade Hotel, joint selling agents CBRE and Jones Lang La Salle say.
The 67-room hotel was bought for an undisclosed sum and attracted significant interest, the agents said, including 15 “high calibre” offers.
“The purchaser is based in Perth and is a well established owner group which owns several Perth properties,” CBRE Hotels senior director David Kennedy said.
Ferrier Hodgson was appointed as receivers and managers to the property in February, after KordaMentha seized control of the $500 million Raine Square office development after a $50 million debt repayment was missed by Mr Saraceni’s Westgem Investments.
The hotel was owned by Pakwest, another company associated with Mr Saraceni’s Saracen Properties and his business partner, Hossean Pourzand.
It was one of six properties seized by receivers administrators over the Raine Square fallout.
Along with the Esplanade Hotel, in February Ferrier Hodgson partners were appointed receivers to a nine-storey office building owned by Mr Pourzand located at 251 St Georges Terrace,
Earlier that month receivers were appointed to Mr Saraceni’s Cinema development at 500 Hay Street in Subiaco.
In January Bankwest also appointed receivers from Ferrier Hodgson to Saraceni-associated entities Seaport, which owns the Bayside City Plaza shopping centre in Warrnambool; Newport Securities, which holds a 40-hectare property near Margaret River; and Mayport Nominees, which holds strata retail units in Spearwood.
Each company is a guarantor to the Raine Square development, and Newport Securities and Mayport Nominees have provided second mortgages to Westgem's joint financiers, Bankwest and Bank of Scotland International.
The trial to decide whether Bankwest had validly appointed receivers to Raine Square wrapped up early last month, and a judgement from Justice Michael Corboy is expected soon.
Mr Saraceni also plans to lodge a damages claim in excess of $200 million against the bank.
