Crystalbrook Collection to build Newcastle’s first five-star hotel

Luxury hotelier Crystalbrook Collection has announced that it will build Newcastle’s first five-star hotel, after buying the Council Administrative Centre from Newcastle City Council in a deal thought to be worth $15.5 million.

The hospitality group will transform the iconic council building, widely referred to as the “roundhouse”, into a 136-room hotel called Kingsley – a name that Crystalbrook says satisfies its preference for gender-neutral names, whilst also paying homage to Newcastle’s earlier name, Kingstown.

The hotel will offer commanding views of Civic Park, the Harbour and Merewether, alongside a lobby bar, a cafe with an outdoor terrace, and a new rooftop area comprising a bar, restaurant and pool.

Crystalbrook engaged Newcastle firm EJE Architecture to design the new hotel. The plans are sensitive to the original architecture.

According to Crystalbrook Collection CEO Mark Davie, the building’s close proximity to the City Hall, the Civic Theatre, the Art Gallery and the War Memorial Cultural Centre meant that it was the perfect location for a five-star hotel.

“There’s really nothing like this building, it has a strong identity and connection to the city of Newcastle. I see a lot of potential,” he said.

Crystalbrook engaged Newcastle firm EJE Architecture to design the new hotel. Apart from a six-metre glass addition on top of the landmark building – which will house the rooftop bar, restaurant and pool – the plans do not include major changes to the original structure of the building, but rather focus on adding high-end features and fittings.

The announcement comes roughly a year after Newcastle City Council announced that it would spend $7 million moving its administrative staff from the “roundhouse” to a 5550 square-metre office at 12 Stewart Avenue, in the city’s west – a move Interim chief executive Jeremy Bath said at the time would save $14,000 each year per staff member.

Construction on the new hotel will begin as soon as that relocation is complete, with the new hotel scheduled to open in November 2020.

A six-metre glass structure on top of the iconic “roundhouse” building will house a rooftop bar, restaurant and pool.

Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said Crystalbrook’s investment demonstrated that Newcastle was well on the way to becoming a “great” city.

“Great cities around the world provide truly great accommodation. And the mark of a great hotel is one done to a five-star standard,” she said.

“Crystalbrook’s decision to invest in Newcastle, when they could have invested anywhere in Australia, says so much about our city and how we are viewed by those living interstate and overseas.

“Their vision for the building is an ideal adaptive reuse. “