2026/10/05 – 2026/10/18
Korea
- Conditional approval for a 19-story tourist lodging property in Seogyo-dong: On October 14, the infrastructure subcommittee of Seoul’s Urban Planning Committee granted conditional approval to a plan for a tourist lodging property at 372-3 Seogyo-dong and adjoining parcels in Mapo-gu. The property will rise 19 floors above ground and four below, to a height of 83.5 meters, on a 1,006.9 sqm site between Hapjeong Station and Hongik Univ. Station. A floor area ratio of about 940% was applied by stacking the tourist lodging incentive, green building certification, and public open space provisions. A publicly accessible restaurant and lounge will occupy the lower floors, and the city imposed conditions requiring additional public open space and the replacement of aging sewer lines.
- Change-of-use approval for a Gwangheui-dong officetel conversion to a lodging property: On October 16, HotelKorea.com announced that it had obtained change-of-use approval for a project converting an officetel in Gwangheui-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul into a lodging property. The firm served as sole advisor across planning, investment structuring, operator matching, permitting, due diligence, and negotiations, and resolved the departure of existing tenants through an agreement with the seller. The asset is planned as a mixed hotel and residential lodging format accommodating both short- and long-term stays, with a global institutional investor participating as the value-add investor. The transaction price and key count were not disclosed.
APAC
- CREAL begins recapitalizing three Garner hotels in Osaka: CREAL has begun recapitalizing three Garner-branded hotels in Osaka totaling 518 keys, which it acquired from Axe Management Partners in July for about JPY 21 billion. It has agreed to sell the 168-key Honmachi Midosuji to Centaurus GK and the 182-key Honmachi Station to a Singapore-based investor, while the 168-key Kita Semba was funded with JPY 3.4 billion in crowdfunding subscriptions and JPY 3.8 billion in bank debt. Sale proceeds will go toward repaying a JPY 14.4 billion MUFG loan maturing in January 2027.
- Hongkong Land in talks to acquire HPL’s Orchard Road assets: Bloomberg reported that Jardine Matheson’s Hongkong Land is in talks to acquire majority stakes in three adjacent Orchard Road assets in Singapore from Hotel Properties Limited, led by Ong Beng Seng. The assets are the voco Orchard Singapore, the Forum shopping mall, and HPL House, which houses HPL’s headquarters. A stake sale would likely value the assets at more than SGD 2 billion. The talks remain at an early stage.
Americas
- Trinity secures CMBS refinancing for Grand Hyatt Indian Wells: Trinity Investments has secured USD 210 million in refinancing from Citi, secured by the 531-key Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas in Indian Wells, California. The loan is a five-year, floating-rate, single-asset, single-borrower CMBS structure arranged by JLL Capital Markets. The property was converted to the Grand Hyatt brand in 2024 following a USD 62 million renovation.
- Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach CMBS loan sent to special servicing: A CMBS loan secured by the 1,230-key Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa in Honolulu, Hawaii has been transferred to special servicing. The loan in question is the USD 302 million outstanding balance of HONO 2021-LULU, a single-asset, single-borrower deal refinanced at USD 450 million in 2021, and the transfer followed the sponsor Mirae Asset Global Investments’ failure to repay the principal at its October maturity. The loan was underwritten on annual revenue of USD 36.7 million, but actual revenue reached only USD 25.9 million in 2023.
Europe
- Whitbread posts 9% first-half profit decline amid delayed asset disposals: On October 13, UK-based Whitbread reported its first-half results and urged shareholders to reject a board nomination put forward by activist investor Corvex Management. Adjusted pretax profit fell 9% to GBP 286.8 million, and while revenue rose 2%, UK employment costs and business rates added GBP 160 million. Its GBP 1.5 billion asset disposal program has reached only about GBP 50 million this year. In the first five weeks of the third quarter, UK accommodation sales rose 4.5% and RevPAR rose 3.2%.
- Milan posts second-highest ADR and RevPAR on record in September: According to preliminary CoStar data, occupancy in Milan’s hotel market reached 84.2% in September 2026, up 1.6% and the highest level since October 2019. ADR rose 7.2% to EUR 310.04 and RevPAR rose 8.9% to EUR 261.17, the second-highest levels on record after February, when the Winter Olympics were held. During the Italian Grand Prix on September 5, the market recorded its monthly peaks of 95.3% occupancy, EUR 444.75 ADR, and EUR 424.07 RevPAR.
