SINGAPORE: JLL Hotels & Hospitality is expanding its Melbourne office with the transfer of Peter Harper, Executive Vice President, Investment Sales, from the Sydney office. The move is aimed to strengthen the real estate firm’s presence in Australia to better service a growing demand among domestic and international clients.

In his new role, Mr Harper will work on growing the team and developing JLL’s hotel investment business in Melbourne. With experience spanning more than 14 years, he has expertise in complex deals with the team’s recent accomplishments in Victoria spanning mid-scale assets such as the Clarion on Canterbury and Chifley Doveton to major hotels including the Novotel on Collins and Hilton South Wharf.

“Having Peter on the ground improves our overall visibility and helps us to proactively meet our client needs,” says JLL Hotels & Hospitality Australasia CEO Craig Collins in a statement. “Melbourne is an important market to the overall success of our business and has been growing considerably with an active supply pipeline, array of new owners and greater depth than ever before. With the exception of the InterContinental Sydney Double Bay, which sold at a record price recently, the majority of recent hotel transactions in Australia took place in Melbourne.”

In line with the regional strategy to boost its client service offering, the group has also announced the promotions of Nihat Ercan to Managing Directors of Investment Sales, Yasokazu Terada to Managing Directors of JLL Tokyo as well as Corey Hamabata to Senior Vice President, Investment Sales.

Mr Ercan joined JLL in 2002 and has been a critical member of the Asia investment sales team, where he has been instrumental in several major deals, including the sale of Jumeirah Dhevanafushi in the Maldives; Grand Park Orchard Singapore, the largest commercial transaction in the city’s history; and the InterContinental Hong Kong, the largest ever single hotel transaction globally.

Mr Terada has engaged in various types of assignments including investment sales, hotel operator selection and advisory works since he joined JLL in 2001. In this new role, he will focus on building relationships with new clients outside of Tokyo.

Originally based in Singapore, Mr Hamabata will relocate to Hong Kong in August. He has been involved in a number of significant mandates across the region and will be leading the team in Hong Kong while supporting efforts in the Pearl River Delta and Greater China.

JLL Hotels & Hospitality Asia CEO Mr Hetherington says: “I’m delighted to announce these new and expanded roles within the Hotels & Hospitality group. We have an incredibly talented team with unparalleled expertise and deep insights into the Asia Pacific market. Our aim is to ensure our clients get the most out of their hospitality assets by applying our broad range of services including valuation, brokerage, asset management and advisory.”