Private developers Pellicano and Perri Projects have lodged plans for the second last building of the $700-million South City Square masterplanned development in Brisbane’s inner east.
The proposed 18-storey hotel, one of seven towers being delivered as part of the mixed-use urban precinct at 148 Logan Road in Woolloongabba, will be operated by Hyatt and will, upon completion in 2023, offer 170-guest rooms.
The 8000sq m hotel is the second portion of the precinct’s fifth stage with three completed residential towers already occupied in the masterplanned development.
The fourth tower, the first portion of stage five, is currently under construction to the north of the hotel’s site.
The precinct’s seventh stage, comprising 150 apartments in one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations across a 15-level tower, is under council assessment, while an application for the final stage six building is yet to be submitted.
It also includes a large public garden, designed by Oculus, which is proposed for along the eastern boundary of the project’s 21,000sq m site.
The South City Square precinct will comprise up to 900 apartments when complete.
The proposed hotel building, planned for an 18,000sq m site, will feature a range of high-end amenities including a rooftop pool and bar, and a 24-hour grab-and-go food market, as well as 11 ground floor retail tenancies, a lobby lounge and fitness centre.
Under amended plans, designed by Woods Bagot, the tower’s 900sq m rooftop has been redesigned, now topped with a rooftop “nest” to enhance the building’s panoramic views to the CBD and inner southern suburbs.
The rooftop has now been redesigned to cantilever over the building’s edges, providing a striking design.
It will also feature a new hotel lobby which includes an additional staircase connecting the ground level to a restaurant, bar area and meeting spaces on level two. The ground floor drop-off area has been reimagined under the altered plans.
The hotel’s 2000sq m gym is planned across the building’s next two levels and an 800sq m wellness centre on level 10, while commercial office space will be offered between levels five and nine.
The Hyatt, which was selected as the hotel operator for South City Square development in early 2019, will offer guest rooms between level 11 and 17.
The hotel expands Hyatt’s portfolio of eight existing hotels in Australia and marks its second offering in Queensland after the Hyatt Regency in Brisbane’s CBD.
It will join a list of operators who have already signed on to the precinct, including Woolworths Supermarket, Reading Cinemas, BWS, Priceline Pharmacy, Kids Club Childcare and Health and Wellness operator, Club Vitality as well an array of specialty food and beverage operators.
It also includes a large public garden, designed by Oculus, which is proposed for along the eastern boundary of the project’s 21,000sq m site.
The precinct and hotel will also be near the 6.5ha Cross River Rail Woolloongabba underground station and its integrated bus hub—currently under construction—shortening travel time to a three-minute train ride to Brisbane’s CBD.
While Hyatt continues to make inroads into Brisbane’s hospitality sector, Accor is also pressing ahead with plans for a range of new hotels and new brands across the state over the next few years including Movenpick Brisbane in Spring Hill, Fairmont in Port Douglas and Mondrian on the Gold Coast.
Developer Keylin is behind Accor’s Spring Hill development—a new dual-tower Art Deco-style residential and hotel project accommodating 113 apartments and 120 hotel rooms.
Accor Pacific chief executive Sarah Derry said that while the continuing prevalence of Covid variants, uncertainty about borders, and the ban on international tourists until earlier this year had all suppressed demand, Accor’s Queensland hotels had been successful in pivoting to largely domestic leisure business.
“Queensland is set to lead the Australian recovery in travel,” Derry said.
“The state’s natural attractions, climate and environment, combined with its popularity for conferences and events, provide us with considerable optimism for the rest of 2022.
“We are still some way from seeing a return to normal levels of corporate travel.
“With companies still often working remotely, and with caution about the pandemic, it could take until the second half of 2022 to see a sustained recovery in business travel.
“There were small indications of Brisbane rebuilding corporate travel in the latter period of the first quarter, but the floods in February and early March brought challenges.”
