Australia could be receiving its second five-star W Hotel if hotel tycoon Jerry Schwartz has anything to do with it.
According to The Australian, Schwartz is pushing to create the hotel in Melbourne, as part of his bid for Lend Lease’ prime waterfront development at Victoria Harbour in the Docklands.
It’s reported that Schwartz is keen to take on a hotel and apartment project that would tally up about $200 million for the site, but instead Lend Lease is proposing a Starwood-branded Aloft Hotel for the site.
Schwartz’s ICC Hotel Development group is, per The Australian, hopeful of entering exclusive due diligence in a matter of weeks, with the more ‘up-market’ W Hotel the frontrunner hotel choice.
As Australia’s biggest private hotel owner, Schwartz has a lot of ammo backing up his proposal, with Lend Lease offering the site for a hotel of about 200 rooms coupled with 260 co-branded apartments.
Schwartz’s syndicate, which is bidding on the 1700 square metre waterfront site on Collins Street, also comprises Harold Dakin and a third unidentified member. Under the plan, The Australian reports, one-bedroom apartments would be priced from $715,000.
If the hotel and apartment project proceeded, Dakin said recently it would be the perfect property to lure in corporate travellers, given its proximity to the Melbourne Convention Centre and CBD.
Meanwhile up north in sunny Brisbane, construction of the W Brisbane has begun, with the lavish hotel expected to open in 2018.
The W Brisbane Hotel marks the re-entry of the brand down under, and is part of a mixed-use development with a price tag of a whopping $1 billion.
Lend Lease is a firm believer that there is strong demand for hotels in Melbourne and has been approached by hotel investors to buy its Victoria Harbour site, according to The Australian.
