Larco purchases Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for $180 million

The sale of downtown Vancouver’s iconic Fairmont Hotel Vancouver property marks another major shift in the local hospitality industry. West Vancouver-based Larco Enterprises has purchased the 1939-built hotel for a sum of $180 million, a source told Vancity Buzz.

The transaction boosts Larco’s hotel ownership to 13 properties including eight in Ontario, four in Metro Vancouver and one in Las Vegas.

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver was among a number of Canadian hotel properties listed for sale in spring 2014 by Caisse de dépôt et placement. The 556-room Vancouver property, which will remain as a Fairmont-operated and branded hotel, was the last of three major hotel assets to be disposed of by Quebec’s pension fund.

In June 2014, Nat Bosa of Vancouver’s Bosa Development purchased the Fairmont Empress Hotel, 477 rooms, for an undisclosed amount. Bosa celebrated the purchase in winter 2014 by installing a temporary public ice skating rink on the hotel’s front lawn.

InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust, a major Canadian hotel franchisor, acquired an 80 per cent majority stake of Toronto’s 1,363-room Fairmont Royal York Hotel for $186.5 million in October 2014. The deal also included a $50 million investment to renovate and restore the historic property.

And earlier this year, Marriott International also made ripples in the hospitality industry by purchasing the Delta Hotels and Resorts brand for $168 million, making Marriott the largest full-service hotel chain in Canada. Property ownership was not included in the transaction, but it allows Marriott to take over the brand and management of the 38 Delta-branded hotels in 30 Canadian cities over a 30-year term.