The owner of Leura's Fairmont resort, Dr Jerry Schwartz, has expanded his property empire, buying the nearby Leura Gardens Resort.
Lerua Gardens, which fronts Leura Golf Course on Fitzroy Street, has a mix of guest rooms, suites and serviced apartments, as well as a two-bedroom on-site manager's residence.
It is set among extensive gardens on 18,793 square metres of land.
Dr Schwartz bought the property from the Elanor Hotel Accommodation Fund, which had bought it less than a year ago.
Dr Schwartz, director of Schwartz Family Company, said the hotel purchase was well timed with the announcement that the NSW Blues rugby league team would establish a training base in the Blue Mountains, using the facilities at both the Fairmont and Leura Gardens.
"The Blue Mountains is Sydney's holiday playground and one of the most popular destinations for weddings, retreats, leisure groups, conferences and events, and by bringing these three venues together, we can offer a complete tourism solution.
"I thank Elanor for the opportunity to combine Leura Gardens Resort with the Fairmont and leverage its facilities. The acquisition will also allow us to provide for a different target group of guests, at the 3.5 star level, complementing the higher category 4.5 star guests catered for at the Fairmont."
As well as 92 rooms of accommodation, the resort has conference and event facilities, two restaurants and bars, a coffee lounge and gym.
Elanor's head of hotels, tourism and leisure, Marianne Ossovani, said: "Although our initial intention was to maintain a long-term strategy for this asset, our foremost priority remains ensuring robust returns for our investors. We're delighted to have achieved significant returns for our fund's investors within a short time frame."
CBRE Hotels, which handled both the original sale and the sale to Dr Schwartz, said the price represented a 25 per cent premium on the Elanor fund's purchase price.
The company's national director, Wayne Bunz said opportunities to buy such a large-scale property in the Mountains did not come along very often.
"This sale is a great outcome for both Elanor's investors, as well as the Schwartz Group, who will be able to substantially benefit from economies of scale of owning and operating this asset with the Fairmont Resort Blue Mountains and other assets in their portfolio," Mr Bunz said.
