Of the many companies in which Hypo Group Alpe Adria has an interest, Kärntner Holding Beteiligungs-AG (KHBAG) and Hypo Alpe-Adria-Immobilien AG are of particular importance.

Kärntner Holding Beteiligungs-AG (KHBAG)

KHBAG is responsible for Hypo Group Alpe Adria’s tourism and golf projects and is active in the areas of project development, project financing and long-term project management. The “Hotel & Residenzen Schloss Velden“ project on the Wörthersee is one of best known in the tourism sector.

The Hypo Group Alpe Adria subsidiary Kärntner Holding Beteiligungs-AG (KHBAG) is responsible for all the Group’s tourism-related projects in Carinthia and acts as a driving force for the sustained development of Carinthia’s tourist industry. Hypo Group Alpe Adria is an important partner in the development and financing of such projects, and can also act as investor in, or operator of the projects. KHBAG’s expert knowledge of the industry together with its financing capabilities acts as a guarantor for the management of existing projects, with a view to enabling the long-term profitable management of regionally and internationally networked projects.

One of Kärntner Holding Beteiligungs-AG’s main projects in 2008 was the support of the major hotel project “Schloss Velden Hotel & Residences” in Velden am Wörthersee in its first full year of operation. The final building works were successfully completed on the residences project during the 2008 financial year and some more apartments put on the market. A highly-fashionable hotel in its heyday, Schloss Velden was converted in a three-year planning and building project and reopened as a 5-star deluxe hotel complex with an integrated spa area and an exclusive residence complex. Operating under the luxury “Capella Hotels & Resorts” brand and following conversion, besides 105 suites, 210 beds, 4 restaurants and bars, a ballroom and two conference rooms, the hotel has a 3,500 m² spa complex as well as an indoor golf area. The sale of the luxury apartments is being managed by real estate specialist Stiller & Hohla, the internationally experienced partners of “Christie’s Great Estates Europe”. The 25 apartments in Phase 1 have nearly all been sold; and the first two of the 20 apartments completed in 2008 in Phase 2 of the project are in the process of being sold. In total, therefore, some 50 % of the residences have been sold to date, with an average price of approx. EUR 8,700 / m².

In 2008 KHBAG successfully sold its interest – with an annual return significantly above 14 % p.a. – in Hotel Carinzia, the first project in Tröpolach in the Nassfeld resort, to the Falkensteiner group. The project development and submission planning phases of the “Lamplhof” project were also significantly progressed and the land use plan submitted for approval by the authorities. The “Lamplhof” is intended to be a further, market-leading tourist operation, situated on the south bank of the Wörthersee and with approx. 150 rooms for business / conference and golfing / leisure usage.

Following the participation in 2006 in HICO Hotel Investment & Consulting St. Veit / Glan GmbH, which is responsible for the construction of the Blumenhotel St. Veit / Glan, the hotel opened ahead of schedule in the late autumn of 2008. Kärntner Holding Beteiligungs-AG also has a 49 % interest in the Congress Hotel Villach ErrichtungsgmbH.

To round off its hotel portfolio, Hypo Group Alpe Adria’s golf projects also form part of KHBAG’s portfolio. This comprises both the Klagenfurt – Seltenheim and Villach – Finkenstein courses. KHBAG managed both courses in the period under review and was successful in raising the quality and reputation of both.
Kärntner Holding Beteiligungs-AG will be focussing on Hypo Group Alpe Adria’s tourism interests again in 2009.