Savills Australia and New Zealand and Knight Frank are pleased to exclusively bring the Travelodge Resort Darwin to the market, representing an exceptional opportunity to purchase a freehold hotel with vacant possession and an incredible opportunity to repurpose the asset to student accommodation or redevelop to other short term ‘living solutions’.

The property, located at 64 Cavenagh Street in Darwin City, has 224 rooms including 32 townhouses and a host of resort amenities including five swimming pools, Treetops Restaurant, conference and events facilities, a gymnasium, a sun deck and BBQ area as well as 115 car parking spaces. With these unique resort amenities and four separate street frontages on the large central land parcel, the property is a compelling accommodation proposition.

Mark Durran, Managing Director Hotel Capital Markets at Savills Australia and New Zealand said, “The Travelodge Resort Darwin is a truly unique resort hotel in the centre of Darwin, presenting extremely well after a recent refurbishment of the hotel accommodation and offers extensive resort amenities.

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“This asset provides a very rare opportunity for an incoming buyer to add value to an income producing asset by repurposing or implementing a change of use. The 1.31-hectare site has advantageous zoning allowing near-term student accommodation use as well as longer-term redevelopment opportunities,” Mr Durran added.

There are currently more than 5,600 international students studying in the Northern Territory contributing around $169 million each year to the Territory economy.

Paul Savitz, Director, Operational Capital Markets at Savills Australia and New Zealand commented; “Darwin is already an undersupplied student accommodation market, with the highest student per PBSA bed ratio in the country, at 33 students to each bed, according to the Property Council of Australia.

“With Charles Darwin University and the State Government aiming to grow international students to 10,000 by 2030, the already severe shortfall of student accommodation will only get worse with no new accommodation to open in the near term.

“With the Travelodge Darwin being located immediately opposite the new $250m CDU City Campus, the hotel can operate as student accommodation with little modification and be ready to welcome students in time for when the campus is expected to open in the third semester of this year,” Mr Savitz concluded.

Peter McVann, Partner at Knight Frank Darwin said, “The increased state and federal government spending budget directed into Darwin will only prove to increase economic and cultural growth in the area, bring in more domestic and international visitor and students from overseas. The best example of this is the new Charles Darwin University conveniently located adjacent to the Travelodge Resort Darwin.”

Mark Durran further added, “On the back of the recent approx. $4m refurbishment, the Travelodge Resort Darwin is positioned superbly for future growth. For the full year 2023, the Darwin market achieved a 33% RevPAR premium versus to 2019, mainly based on ADR growth, and Savills expect occupancy to continue to recover through the end of 2024 and in 2025 as inbound international travel rebounds.”

Travelodge Darwin is offered for sale by Expressions of Interest closing on the 25th of July at 1pm.