Developer Switches Hotels to Upscale Offering

Developer Linzhu has switched Intercontinental Hotel Group brands from Holiday Inn to the more upscale Voco, the fifth Australian hotel for Voco since its mid-2018 launch.

The British hotel giant will take 301 rooms in the mixed-use development — a 17-storey tower in the heart of Sydney’s CBD featuring a 1000sq m private art gallery and ground floor retail concourse.

Chinese-backed Linzhu acquired the site in 2014 for $37 million, winning approval for a part-residential, part-hotel scheme before moving on to the current offering amid an under-serviced hotel market in the CBD.

Linzhu chairman Jinwen Lin said the need for quality accommodation options for business and leisure travellers prompted the switch.

“As the growing precinct continues to develop, it became clear that it was taking shape as an upscale hotel with a very distinctive character,” Lin said.

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The BVN-designed tower features a 10-level hanging garden on its roof — described as a “green waterfall” by the developer — and will cost about $61 million.

The 1,619sq m site contains a through-site link to create a public laneway on the eastern side of the site next to Belmore Park.

The new Voco brand has expanded rapidly in Australia, announcing five locations in less than a year since its launch.

Its first CBD hotel was announced in Melbourne in October, taking 252 rooms at Brady Group’s 380 Lonsdale Street project. The brand has also launched in the Yarra Valley, Kirkton Park and Gold Coast.

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The London-listed IHG has 49 hotels operating under four brands in Australia and New Zealand, with another 29 in the pipeline.

IHG Australasia’s senior director of development Abhijay Sandilya said that the signing continues the brand’s rapid growth.

“[The signing] complements the Voco Gold Coast, Yarra Valley, Kirkton Park and Melbourne Central,” Sandilya said.

“430 Pitt Street is just moments away from the iconic Capitol Theatre, with easy access to George Street light rail, Central Station and Sydney’s new Convention Centre.”

According to Tourism Accommodation Australia figures, Sydney has 6,084 rooms in the pipeline.

Its under-serviced high-end hotel market is also set to boom with the W Ribbon, Ritz-Carlton at the Star and Crown Resort at Barangaroo all under way.