Melbourne to get Australia’s first St Regis Hotel
China’s Century Group Aus will bring the nation’s first St Regis Hotel to Australia, settling on a site in Melbourne, in a major coup for the hotel’s operator, American-controlled Marriott Group.
Marriott has been in negotiations with Century Group Aus for the past 12 months over the $1-billion-plus development, which will include 650 unbranded residential apartments as well as the 168-room hotel on the corner of Melbourne’s Spencer and Flinders Streets.
Marriott’s senior director of development Richard Crawford said the project was the first hotel outside of China for the Century Group Aus, which owns 20 five-star properties on the Chinese mainland and bills itself as a “leader in the luxury hotel and residential market around the world”.
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While the unbranded residential apartments will be sold, Crawford says Century Group Aus was a long-term holder of its hotel assets such as the St Regis.
Crawford wants to bring at least three St Regis hotels to Australia, with Sydney and the Gold Coast the next logical homes for the brand, which typically includes specialty suites for presidents and sheiks.
Crawford says the luxury sector was currently the best performer in the Melbourne hotel market and the Melbourne St Regis would open in 2022.
St Regis operates more than 40 luxury resorts including Bali, Langkawi and Mauritius.
“Melbourne’s vibrant mix of world-class dining, art galleries and rich history makes it an ideal destination for the debut of the iconic St Regis brand in Australia,” says Lisa Holladay, global brand leader, St Regis Hotels & Resorts.
Century Group Aus executive director Connie Wu says she was confident the 33-level development designed by Fender Katsalidis would become an architectural benchmark in Melbourne’s Flinders Bank.
The St Regis Melbourne will be developed from level two to level 11 in the 33-level tower with the luxury suites to offer views of the Yarra River and the city skyline. Interiors will be created by Sydney-based interior design studio, Chada.
Crawford says the signing of the hotel to be developed on the city’s former convention centre site is an indication of the investment community’s confidence in the Australian hotel market.
Crawford claims Marriott is on track to have the largest portfolio of luxury hotels and resorts in Australia, which is two-thirds of the new supply pipeline.
One of the world’s fastest growing luxury brands, St Regis Hotels & Resorts has more than doubled its footprint in recent years.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
