CP Group expansion: opening new hotels in Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington

It contracted the American-headquartered business to brand the three properties under various Marriott labels.

How the building at 10 Eden Crescent, Auckland, could look once it has become a CP Group hotel. Photo / Marriott

Crawford said it would take up to three years for all buildings to be refurbished and ready for guests.

Only one of the three new properties would be branded Marriott.

Prakash Pandey of CP Group and the Soiftel in the Viaduct. Photo / LinkedIn

The three properties are:

Rotorua Marriott Hotel, previously Rydges Rotorua, to be Marriott’s first in that city. The existing Arawa Park Hotel Rotorua, 272 Fenton St, will be rebranded and have 135 rooms. A 12-month renovation programme is due to be finished next year. ASX-listed EVT sold that property to the Pandeys. Settlement occurred on Tuesday this week;The Official, Autograph Collection, Auckland due to open in 2027. The building is at 10 Eden Cres. It will have 82 rooms. Owned by Pandey company Kingsgate Trustees.Fable Wellington, Autograph Collection, due to open in 2029 with 118 rooms. A 1940s building at 143 Lambton Quay on the Stout St corner will be converted from offices. Argosy Property valued Te Puni Kōkiri House at $7.5m and was last year reported as listing it for sale. Now owned by Pandey company 143 Lambton Quay Ltd. Sold for $6m.143 Lambton Quay, Wellington, is one of the three buildings to become a hotel.

The Queen St-headquartered Rich List Pandey family is estimated to be worth $220m.

They own more than 1400 New Zealand hotel rooms.

JW Marriott, Albert St, Auckland, owned by CP Group. Photo / JLL

Their biggest New Zealand hotel is the JW Marriott, Albert St, the largest hotel sale in this country when it was sold for $170m in 2022.

That 376-room hotel was previously the Stamford Plaza and before that, the Regent.

PHC’s managing director Prakash Pandey and Marriott International vice president of hotel development for Australia, New Zealand and Pacific, Richard Crawford.

The Pandeys own titles in Auckland’s waterfront Sofitel Auckland Viaduct Harbour.

They bought the ex-Reserve Bank building and converted it into what is now So/Auckland, at 67 Customs St East, Auckland.

SO/Auckland (right) on Customs St East was the ex-Reserve Bank building. Photo / Michael Craig

Other CP Group hotels are managed by French-headquartered Accor, which has Pullman and Mercure brands.

In 2020, the Pandeys launched Fabel Hotels and Resorts, a 13-property portfolio. Its properties were previously known under many different names, stretching from Auckland to Dunedin.

Plans for the Rotorua Marriott Hotel, previously Rydges Rotorua, to be Marriott’s first in that city. The existing Arawa Park Hotel Rotorua, 272 Fenton St, will be rebranded and will have 135 rooms. A 12-month renovation programme is due to be finished in 2027. ASX-listed EVT sold that property to the Pandey company CP Group. Image / Marriott International

Marriott has about 9800 properties in 145 countries.

The JW Marriott Auckland has undergone a $30m upgrade.

Crawford said Marriott is expanding fast here. New Marriott-managed hotels are to be:

Sheraton Christchurch in the ex-Noah’s;Moxey hotels in Auckland and Queenstown;St. Regis in Queenstown.

Marriott only manages Auckland’s JW Marriott at 22-26 Albert St and Four Points by Sheraton at 396 Queen St.

Its main entrance is at 110 Mayoral Dr.

Four Points by Sheraton Auckland.

But Marriott has struck a deal to manage Christchurch’s ex-Noah’s Hotel, now being upgraded by Mainland Capital and Russell Property Group.

That hotel is to be 14 floors and have 240 rooms.

The Sheraton Christchurch is set to open in mid-2027 after a hotel management agreement was signed with Marriott International by Mainland Capital and Russell Property Group.

It is to open next year as the Sheraton Christchurch after a $150m upgrade.

The Sheraton Christchurch is set to open in mid-2027 after a hotel management agreement was signed with Marriott International by Mainland Capital and Russell Property Group.

Marriott has also signed a deal to manage the new 145-room St. Regis Queenstown as well as new-build Moxey hotels in Auckland and Queenstown.

CMP is building the 17-level $75m Moxey Hotel by Marriott International on Wakefield St in Auckland.

Building at the centre of this image: how Fable Wellington Autograph Collection could look once CP Group converts it from offices into a hotel. Image / Marriott

Hotel rooms are being built offsite as modular units.

Plans for the new Moxy high-rise hotel on Wakefield St in central Auckland. Photo / CMP Construction

Sixteen hotel room modules are planned to make up each floor, stacked one on top of the other.

The top 13 levels will be modular and tied back to the concrete core, CMP said, while the lower three levels will be more traditional-style construction.

Builders sink foundations for the new modular Moxy Hotel on Wakefield St in Auckland’s CBD. Photo / CMP Construction

A significant transfer structure at level three has been designed to carry the weight of 201 modules which will each weigh more than 15 tonnes.

The site is between Mayoral Drive and Symonds St in the block bounded by St Paul St and Lyndock St.

St. Regis is due to open in Queenstown in 2028.

Plans for the 145-room St. Regis Queenstown due to open by early 2028.

That five-star St. Regis management deal is also between CP Group and Marriott.

The Pandeys are developing the property via PHC Queenstown, with PCI Projects the project manager.

The hotel is on a prominent corner site in central Queenstown overlooking Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables.

In March, Prakash Pandey said St. Regis was a strategic addition to CP Group’s portfolio of 30 hotels in this country.

Crawford said: “CP Group are pivoting towards Marriott as their preferred hotel partner, which is a very strong vote of confidence. Prakash has decided to engage with us on more deals. That is the greatest measure of success.”

Prakash Pandey did not respond to inquiries about the three-property expansion.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.

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