Sir Stamford Hotel to reopen at Circular Quay as Metrics shelves apartment plans for now
Sydney's Circular Quay will regain a five-star hotel after finance house Metrics confirmed it will return the vacant Sir Stamford Hotel to service, shelving a luxury apartment redevelopment in favour of reopening the property within the next year.
The move follows months of Land & Environment Court litigation with Malaysian property group Mulpha, owner of the neighbouring InterContinental Hotel, which last week lost on all three counts in its legal challenge against the redevelopment and now faces a costs order.
Metrics bought the 93-97 Macquarie Street property for $265 million in 2024 from failed developer JDH Capital, with plans for a 16-level, 65-unit luxury apartment tower on the prime northern harbourside site. But with the hotel sitting empty for close to two years and holding costs mounting, the company has opted to reopen it as a hotel in the short term rather than push ahead immediately with residential construction.
A softening apartment market also factored into the decision and Metrics is now looking to capitalise on strong hotel occupancy and room rates in Sydney as international visitor numbers continue to recover. A shortage of luxury hotel stock in the CBD's northern precinct was a further incentive to bring the Sir Stamford back online.
Renovation works are said to be imminent, with Metrics understood to be in negotiations with hotel operators, though none has yet been confirmed. The refresh will include "freshening" up guest rooms, alongside a high-end restaurant and wellness retreat already covered by a development application approved by the City of Sydney. That approval will remain in place, allowing the hospitality upgrade to proceed while rooms are refurbished — and later, when Metrics does move to redevelop the site into apartments.
Council's sign-off for the residential component is also intact, meaning the apartment tower remains on the table for the medium to longer term rather than being abandoned outright.
Mulpha, controlled by the billionaire Lee family, had argued in its Land & Environment Court action that the InterContinental's right of carriageway through the Sir Stamford building had not been properly accounted for. The court found the City of Sydney had appropriately considered that right when it approved demolition of the Sir Stamford and construction of the apartment tower. Mulpha had previously raised concerns that the development could block views from the InterContinental.
The Sir Stamford was originally constructed for the Health Department in the 19th century. Roberts Co, the surviving arm of the builder now controlled by Middle Eastern company Arada, had been lined up to demolish the property in June 2025 ahead of the apartment build.
Jonathan Jackson, 5th August 2026
