Clean energy boost for Melbourne hotel
A budget hotel in Melbourne has received government=backed funding of $39 million to help design it to a 5-star energy rating.
The money is coming from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which funds renewable and energy efficiency projects.
It is backing the Pro-invest Group’s $125 million Holiday Inn Express hotel development in Southbank. The hotel will have 345 rooms in a 22-storey mixed-use tower along with commercial and retail space at 35-47 City Road that is expected to be operational by the end of 2019.
The investment aims to lift the design standard for the project to include clean energy technologies.
“These design changes will result in a 25 per cent drop in the hotel’s energy use, delivering a substantial energy saving that will provide ongoing benefits for the hotel, carbon-conscious guests and for the environment,” CEFC chief executive Ian Learmonth told the Sydney Morning Herald.
CEFC is co-financing the project with senior debt, construction debt and a term facility.
“We approach any financing the same as any traditional financier and asses risks on case by case basis,” CEFC’s property head Chris Wade told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“We are confident this investment will provide developers and operators with practical insights into how they can lift their energy performance,” he said.
Pro-invest’s chief executive Ronald Barrott said the hotel was looking to secure a 5-star NABERS rating for energy and water use.
“This will include high performance glazing, high efficiency air-cooled chillers and condensing boilers and solar photovoltaic systems on the hotel’s roof,” Mr Barrott told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Pro-invest owns and operates Holiday Inn Express hotels in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane with the Holiday Inn Express brand operating under a licence from global accommodation heavyweight Intercontinental Hotel Group.
It is planning to develop another six hotels across Australia and New Zealand, including the Southbank project.
Leon Getler 2nd May 2018.
