HotelsHarrison CaithnessWed 15 Jul 26
Brisbane’s Tower Mill Hotel Changes Hands for $28m
A 70-key Brisbane CBD hotel on the edge of the city’s Golden Triangle has changed hands for $28.6 million.
Madison Hotel Group has sold the 1462sq m freehold site at 239 Wickham Terrace to privately owned Brisbane hotelier Samdoo Corporation, the operator of the Hotel Diana brand.
Madison acquired the Tower Mill Hotel for $4 million from Transmetro Corporation in 2018, and is marking its exit from the Brisbane market with the sale.
Madison retains hotel assets across Canberra, Townsville and Sydney.
Samdoo Corporation (also operating as Samdoo Corp ) is a privately-owned Australian real estate and hospitality investment company founded in 1988 by Joseph Jin-Sung Kim.
It owns and manages commercial properties, serviced apartments and hotels, including two Hotel Diana-branded assets, at Woolloongabba and South Brisbane.
Built in 1966, the nine-storey modernist international-style Tower Mill Hotel was recently upgraded with a $4.3 million refurbishment.
The cylindrical tower was stripped back to concrete and repainted, with the roof and electrical systems replaced, bathrooms renovated and two lifts installed.
The refurbishment was followed by the construction of a new sports bar with 14 gaming machines.
Hotel investment agency HTL Property’s Nic Simarro said assets with gaming entitlements remained tightly held.
“Accommodation assets with gaming entitlements attached remain exceptionally tightly held, and as such are among the rarest opportunities in Australia’s hotel investment market,” Simarro said.
HTL Property’s Andrew Jackson, Glenn Price and Simarro managed the sale.
The Tower Mill Hotel, which takes its name from the smaller 19th century convict-built windmill across the road, has a long history within Brisbane’s hospitality landscape.
In 1971, about 400 anti-apartheid protesters gathered outside the hotel while the touring all-white South African rugby team stayed at the property.
The protest was met by about 500 police officers during a State of Emergency declared by then premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
The hotel is within walking distance of Suncorp Stadium and Roma Street Parkland and is next to the Brisbane Private Hospital.
Brisbane’s hotel sector has experienced renewed investment activity following a period of subdued transaction volumes, with limited availability of established assets driving competition among private investors and institutional groups.
The city’s accommodation market has benefited from strong population growth, major events and increased corporate travel, while the pipeline of new hotel developments remains constrained by construction costs and feasibility pressures.
Major projects including new hotels within Brisbane’s Olympic precincts and inner-city renewal areas are expected to add supply ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, although the market remains focused on securing well-located assets with existing trading histories.
Private hotel groups have remained active buyers, particularly for freehold going-concern assets with additional income streams such as gaming, food
