The 495-room voco Auckland City Centre Hotel marks voco's entry into the NZ market
Dentons Kensington Swan has guided the $200m development of the voco Auckland City Centre Hotel and Holiday Inn Express Auckland City Centre.
The development is a product of a partnership between Pro-invest Hotels and IHG Hotels & Resorts, the firm said. It also marks voco’s entry into the New Zealand market.
The 495-room hotel is located in the centre of the Auckland CBD, and is part of a dual tower development. Dentons Kensington Swan explained that the development “signals the continued growth of the [voco] brand”, and “couldn’t come at a better time” as New Zealand opens its borders to all tourists effective July.
Real estate partner Michelle Hill helmed the team that worked on the transaction, working with major projects and construction partner Paul Buetow, corporate partner Chris Parke and banking and finance special counsel Pauline Ho.
“This was a complex project that required the Dentons Kensington Swan team to utilise cross-practice collaboration and demonstrated our ability to provide an overseas client with all the local legal expertise they needed in one firm,” Hill said.
The team was initially tasked with providing guidance on real estate matters, titles and a variety of occupational arrangements. Nonetheless, Hill confirmed that the team also handled “the construction contract between Icon and Pro-invest Group, finalisation of the structure of investment into the limited partnership as well as the necessary debt funding arrangements.”
Dentons Kensington Swan’s corporate team also assisted in finalising the limited partnership arrangements and the investment arrangements into the structure, the firm added. Parke said that the final investment arrangements were “completed under short timeframes, and during the early weeks of the first COVID-19 lockdown.”
Pro-Invest Group GC Anthony Ursino praised the Dentons Kensington Swan team, highlighting how “having a local team with local knowledge was vital in ensuring the smooth completion of this project.”
