Korea’s IGIS Asset puts top Seoul tourist area hotel on market

IGIS Asset Management Co., one of Asia's largest real estate investment firms, is set to sell a four-star hotel in Myeong-dong, a popular spot for foreign tourists in Seoul, amid rising investor interest in South Korea’s accommodation sector thanks to stable growth in local tourism.

IGIS on Thursday sent requests for proposals (RFPs) to property advisors to sell Four Points by Sheraton Josun, Seoul Myeongdong, according to investment banking industry sources.

The leading South Korean real estate asset manager plans to select a preferred bidder this month.

The hotel, a 26-story building with three underground floors and a total floor area of 21,658 square meters, has 375 rooms and other facilities.

It is leased and operated by Josun Hotels & Resorts Co., a subsidiary of South Korea’s largest supermarket chain E-Mart Inc. Its lease expires in 2040.

HOTEL IN SOUTH KOREA’S SUPER-PRIME REAL ESTATE

Investors at home and abroad are reportedly interested in the property as it is a relatively new four-star hotel in Myeong-dong, super-prime real estate in the country, industry sources said.

IGIS bought Four Points by Sheraton Josun, Seoul Myeongdong for 166.5 billion won ($115.1 million) from local property developer SK D&D Co. in 2020.

IGIS raised money for the acquisition through a real estate fund created by the National Pension Service (NPS) in 2016. The asset manager put the hotel up for sale as the fund is set to expire.

Investment in South Korean hotels is booming thanks to a recovery in tourism.

Hotel transactions in the country were predicted to jump 35% to 2.2 trillion won this year from 1.6 trillion won in 2024, up more than three times from the previous year, according to global real estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL).

Last month, Macquarie Asset Management sold a four-star hotel in Seoul for about 170 billion won to South Korea’s KB Asset Management.

Write to Gyeong-Jin Min at min@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.