MANTRA EXPANDS GOLD COAST PORTFOLIO

MANTRA Group (ASX: MTR) has acquired the management rights for Southport Central, a large permanent rental business on Queensland's Gold Coast, at an undisclosed price, it announced today.

Southport Central will add 788 permanent letting apartments to Mantra Group's portfolio, which spans Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Hawaii and includes resort chains Peppers and BreakFree.

Mantra Group CEO Bob East (pictured) says the addition of the upmarket Southport Central is well timed to coincide with strong residential market conditions in the lead up to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

"Southport Central is not only complementary to our existing portfolio, but also reinforces the strong momentum in our organic growth strategy and consistent ability to convert our pipeline," East says.

Blue Sky Private Real Estate, a division of Blue Sky Alternative Investments (ASX: BLA), investment director Andrew Lee says the sale to Mantra Group was a key part of Blue Sky's accommodation strategy.

"Our strategy in this sector over the past few years has been to accumulate high yielding management contracts in favourable locations with upside rental and let pool potential," Lee says.

"We purchased the Southport Central asset in 2014 following the announcement of a number of infrastructure projects in the local area and have since added a number of rooms to the let pool and driven rental growth in the backdrop of a growing Gold Coast market," he says.

The $700 million Southport Central project was build by Gold Coast developers the Raptis Group between 2006 and 2009 and comprises of one, two and three bedroom residential apartments across three towers.

The property offers two outdoor pools, an indoor pool, spa, saunas, steam room, two gymnasiums and multiple entertaining areas, as well as access to Southport's central business district, Broadwater Parklands and public transport.

Mantra Group's acquisition of Southport Central, for an undisclosed amount, is scheduled to settle on 31 August, 2016.

Under the brands 'Peppers', 'Mantra' and 'BreakFree' the Mantra Group has 23 properties on the Gold Coast located in Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach, Coolangatta and the Gold Coast Hinterland - making it the region's largest accommodation supplier.