Reaching new heights for a tourist attraction without tourists
We positioned one of Melbourne’s most iconic attractions for sale in a tourist free market
Spotlight
Capital Markets
Hotels & Hospitality
Time
Campaign February – June 2021
Location
Eureka Tower, Southbank, Melbourne
Value
Sale Date: July 2021 $60M
Challenge
The Eureka Skydeck is one of Melbourne’s most iconic tourist attractions. Created as an attraction with the intention of driving people to the Southbank area. When our client engaged JLL to sell the property and the business during the 2020 global pandemic, we were presented with a unique challenge of marketing a tourist attraction without tourists.
At the time of sale, Level 88-89 and Part of GF, 7 Riverside Quay was a 100% free-hold iconic Melbourne asset that included the highest observation deck in the southern Hemisphere, Eureka Skydeck, a high end restaurant and event space, Eureka 89 and part of the Ground floor, linked to the Skydeck attraction. At over 1,900sqm the asset has 360O views of Melbourne and the bay and attracts an estimated 500,000 visitors a year.
The challenge was the positioning plan, given the assets unorthodox style of investment – a non-traditional strata titled tourism asset and a business which couldn’t be showcased as booming due to circumstances. We identified our buyer group as those seeking large long leased assets, positioning the campaign inline with the marketing of a hospitality asset.
Approach
Recognising the unique nature of the asset on offer, JLL put together a collaborative sales team including specialists from our Victorian Capital Markets business, Hotels and Hospitality and representatives from our Asia Desk to ensure we captured a diverse buyer group.
This project team developed a unique marketing strategy to reach all buyer groups including hosting a Chinese New Year Celebration, creating a Complimentary ticketing strategy allowing interested parties to experience the attraction and enjoy a day out on JLL, hosting all client meetings on site in the attraction and exploiting media channels through TV and Radio.
Result
Working strategically and collaboratively our cross sector sales team captured a broad buyer group and defied expectations to deliver a record breaking price and rate for the building and ultimately a benchmark for valuing other Hospitality and Leisure assets.
With over 100 qualified enquiries, the team attracted 10 bids in the expression of interest campaign achieving a sale price of $60M on a yield of 5.7% and a blended building rate: $29,213/sqm.
