Forest Endeavour—controlled by Taiwanese billionaire Lin Chen-hai—has acquired the Paradise Centre and Novotel Surfers Paradise for AUD$346.5 million (US$250 million), betting on one of Australia’s top tourist destinations.
The Paradise Centre & Novotel in Gold Coast, Australia.
Courtesy of JLL
The mixed-use hotel and retail property was acquired from Abu Dhabi Investment Corp. and Challenger Life which held a bidding for the asset, real estate consultant JLL, which handled the sale with McVay Real Estate, said in a statement. This is the largest transaction for a combined hotel and retail complex in Queensland, according to JLL.
“Mixed-use assets of this scale and quality rarely come to market in Australia,” said Nick Willis, executive director of JLL Retail Investments Australia & New Zealand.
“The combination of a dominant retail and entertainment precinct with a major hotel in such a strategic location is genuinely unique.”
With a real-time net worth of $4.2 billion, Lin is one of the wealthiest tycoons in Taiwan, according to Forbes data. He built his fortune by developing affordable housing for Taiwan’s middle class through his privately held Pau Jar Group. An early push overseas landed him in Australia’s hot and growing real estate market.
Lin’s latest acquisition – Paradise Centre and Novotel Surfers Paradise – is a Gold Coast landmark spanning an area of about 2.3 hectares that attracts as much as 14 million visitors annually, according to JLL.
The Novotel Surfers Paradise is the Gold Coast’s largest hotel at 408 keys, including two multi-level penthouse suites, according to JLL.
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