PALM COVE, QUEENSLAND— Contracts have been exchanged for the sale of the 189-room Courtyard by Marriott here, with the purchase price amounting to roughly US$9.2 million. The property was purchased by the Horbelt family— an Adelaide-based property-investment group— from Thakral Holdings Group, which had purchased the four-star hotel and an adjoining development site for approximately US$12 million in January of 2000. Thakral retained the vacant development site with the expectation of constructing a resort-style serviced apartment complex comprising 110 apartments, six villas, a lagoon pool and a restaurant. The Courtyard by Marriott facility itself— located near the city of Cairns, which is in line to add direct air service from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan— encompasses a restaurant as well as a range of conference and recreational facilities. The Horbelt/Thakral deal— as well as the Thakral transaction two years ago— were both brokered through the Brisbane office of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.