By Steve Hartridge, published 29/07/20

Dutch hotel and lifestyle brand citizenM has partnered with German project developer GBI to enter the German hotel market.

The pair have set their sights on Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Berlin, where they plan to open several hotels in each city.

“It had been clear for some time that Germany, as Europe’s strongest economic country and a sought-after travel destination, would be one of our next targets, but we needed the right partner and consultant for our expansion. We are delighted to have found this with GBI,” said Klaas van Lookeren Campagne, CEO at citizenM.

CitizenM, which claims to offer ‘affordable luxury’, currently has 20 operational hotels in eight countries and a confirmed pipeline of 25 properties.

It has significant expansion plans in North America as well as continued growth in Asia and Europe.

In Europe the key target cities are London, Paris, Milan, Rome, Dublin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Zurich, Geneva, Amsterdam and Barcelona.

In North America, citizenM is looking for projects in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Austin, Silicon Valley, Toronto, Denver, Vancouver, Mexico City, Philadelphia, Miami, San Diego and Nashville.

In Asia Pacific the key target cities are Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Taipei, Osaka and Jakarta.

In March 2019, citizenM welcomed its third investor, GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, raising the value of the company to €2 billion.

GIC joined two other investors, KRC Capital (the private investment vehicle) and APG (the Dutch Pension Fund), which together have committed to invest €750 million of new equity for future hotel developments.

The group said it would consider new-build developments, office conversions, components of mixed-use schemes or conversions of existing hotels.