Star’s $500 million hotel to take on Packer’s Crown resort
The Sydney hotel scene is about to hot up with the Star Entertainment Group planning a new $500 million, "six-star" hotel, with apartments and an updated restaurant strip at Pyrmont.
It’s all part of its plans to take on James Packer's proposed Crown resort at Barangaroo.
Star is now putting its main casino through a $500 million renovation including the refurbishment of rooms at the Astral Tower and Residences, the opening of the Harvest Buffet restaurant, work on the arrivals area, and an upgrade of internal spaces, including VIP facilities
And the plan is to build a hotel with 220 rooms and 150 residences on top of that.
The hotel will be operated under the Ritz-Carlton brand.
Star has already started a design competition and the three architects involved in the project will be announced next week.
Once the design is done and the approvals get ticked off, it’s envisaged that the hotel will open in 2020. That could be one year ahead of the Crown Sydney project at Barangaroo,
A design review panel including Star Sydney managing director Greg Hawkins. NSW government architect Peter Poulet, Group GSA director Lisa-Maree Carrigan, UTS professor and Six Degrees Urban director Craig Allchin, and Marriott International's regional vice-president of hotel development, Asia Pacific, James Doolan will decide on the final preferred scheme for the Star Sydney.
The executive director of the Sydney Business Chamber, Patricia Forsythe said it would make the Western Harbour Precinct come alive.
She said that wealthy Chinese tourists now coming to Sydney wanted to stay in luxury hotels.
"This will be outstanding for Sydney and will be a much-needed second six-star hotel for the city," Ms Forsythe said.
"We are a service city and tourists make a choice on quality and The Star is meeting this market with the proposed development.”
by Leon Gettler, September 16th 2016
