Marriott’s 34-story Koreatown Moxy hotel to breathe new life into Sydney CBD

Construction has begun on Marriott’s upcoming 34-storey Moxy hotel in Sydney’s Koreatown

Koreatown is set to welcome one of Sydney’s tallest rooftop bars next year, part of a major hotel development in the southern end of the CBD.

The bar, which will overlook the upcoming Tech Central, will sit above a 34-storey hotel which has been signed by Marriott as the next edition of its Moxy collection in Sydney.

Construction has just started on the 314-room hotel which is being erected at 371 Pitt St, dead centre in a little strip known as Koreatown, just 200m from the upcoming Tech Central development, 250m from Museum Station and 600m from Sydney’s long established Chinatown.

Sydney’s Koreatown was thriving before the pandemic but has struggled to recover. Many of the small businesses, including beauty and hospitality venues – which once lined the laneway that the new hotel will open on to – have since shut, with just Korean BBQ restaurant Myung jang and Obaltan restaurant remaining.

Construction has begun on the upcoming Moxy hotel in Sydney’s Koreatown.

Marriott is expecting to change the area’s fortune once the project is completed in a little over a year, with retail spaces and grab-and-go services being built into the bottom floors.

Rebel Property Group, Metrics, Pelligra Group and Mustaca Group, who are behind the development, will widen the existing laneway providing space for more retail stores as well as access to a vehicle lift.

Richard Crawford, Marriott’s vice president of Hotel Development for Australia, New Zealand and Pacific, said he expected the hotel to be a fun edition to Sydney’s CBD.

“Moxy is renowned around the world as a high-energy hotel experience that breaks the rules and makes travel fun,” he said. “It’s a brand that absolutely belongs in the heart of Sydney, where the city’s iconic attractions and urban excitement make for a perfect base for our fun-hunters.”

Securing the site was no easy feat for the brand, with Mr Crawford adding, “there is no place more challenging in Australia to secure new hotel footholds than Sydney CBD”.

The development includes a two-level basement with end of trip facilities, bicycle parking and waste storage, according to a development application.

The ground floor will include retail options and a hotel lobby while level one will have a restaurant, level two will include an outdoor terrace and level three will have a hotel administration area. Level four will feature a hotel gym and a second outdoor area, while a plant is on level five and rooms will be on levels six to 33.

The announcement comes after the City of Sydney committed $43.5m to Thaitown, just a few hundred metres away on Pitt St, as well as Chinatown. The plans include reduced parking, expanding footpaths, more outdoor seating and eating areas and a tidy of existing streetscapes around the area, but not in Chinatown’s Dixon St.

They also include the extension of Sydney’s Thai Town, which the City of Sydney plans to expand off its original home on Pitt St – between World Square and Belmore Park – and on to the small strip of Campbell St between Pitt St and George St.

The new hotel will be Marriott’s eighth in Sydney, and its second from the Moxy Collection which includes a 304-room hotel at Sydney Airport. The new hotel will compete with the neighbouring Hotel Morris at 412 Pitt St in Thaitown, which reopened in July last year. The hotel is fitted out with old school New York-like aesthetic inside a building which was once Australia’s tallest hotel.

Rebel Property Group CEO Allen Linz said: “The hotel will set a new benchmark for guests looking for a fun and exciting hotel experience. We are thrilled to be working with the Marriott team to deliver what will be an iconic Sydney hotel.”