Goldman Sachs is said to abandon Greek hotel venture after costly setbacks

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) quietly exited its hotel investment ambitions in Greece, selling off three seaside resorts it acquired just two years ago after the project ran into significant delays and budget overruns, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The financial-services m initially bought the properties in northern Greece in 2022, eyeing the booming tourism sector and lower real estate prices compared to popular Greek islands. The plan was to renovate the resorts and eventually roll out a broader hotel brand across the Mediterranean.

Instead, the properties never opened, and Goldman offloaded the assets this spring, barely recouping its roughly €100 million (about $117 million) investment, the Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the situation. The firm also shelved its Mediterranean hotel brand ambitions entirely. Some employees involved with the project have since left Goldman.

Local media described the failed effort as a “shipwreck.”

Though the investment was relatively small within Goldman’s broader asset management business, it reflected the bank’s ongoing search for steady returns and fee income to complement its core Wall Street operations. Goldman intended to use mostly client capital and leverage to boost the resorts’ value, earning profits on a future sale while collecting management fees in the meantime.

Greece’s recovering economy, increased openness to foreign investors, and relatively affordable hotel assets, many still family-owned, initially made the country attractive for Goldman. Other investment firms had already planted stakes there, including Blackstone, whose Hotel Investment Partners portfolio spans dozens of Mediterranean resorts, including around 10 in Greece.