Starwood to develop hotel
Starwood Hotels & Resorts will develop a 176-room Aloft hotel in Melbourne after signing a management agreement with the billionaire Fried family’s Spotlight Holdings Group.
The deal was signed by Zac Fried, son of the late Ruben Fried, co-founder of The Spotlight Retail Group that operates in Australia, Asia and New Zealand.
The new hotel will be the centrepiece of a mixed-use development in Chapel Street, South Yarra to be called ‘402 Chapel’.
Developed by Spotlight Holdings Group, it will feature a rooftop pool, bar and restaurant, in addition to 176 guestrooms with high ceilings, oversized windows, platform bed and large walk-in showers.
It will also have a Re:mixSM lounge and W XYZ SM bar, as well as a Re:chargeSM fitness centre and Re:fuel by AloftSM, a 24-hour grab-and-go food and beverage area. And there will be 300 square metres of function rooms fitted out with AV equipment.
The Aloft hotel is set to open in 2019.
The 402 Chapel Street development will feature retail shops, first-floor commercial offices, conference facilities and 40 residential apartments.
The 176-room Aloft Hotel will be designed by international architect Tim Kobe from the strategic design firm, Eight Inc.
Being in South Yarra, it is 40 minutes from Melbourne Airport and close to the CBD, St Kilda, Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the Prahran Market.
Starwood’s director of acquisitions and development, Andrew Taylor, said 402 Chapel could be worth as much as $120 million.
He also pointed out that this was an addition to several new management agreements that Starwood had signed in recent months.
“The growth is very positive for us and this is our fourth signing with the Aloft brand in Australia,” Mr Taylor told The Australian.
It’s all part of the expansion plans for Starwood which operates 17 operating hotels in the Pacific and has another 12 in the pipeline.
by Leon Gettler, 26th July 2016
