SYDNEY—Lend Lease was riding high on news it was granted control of the Barangaroo South project at the Australia, New Zealand & Pacific Hotel Industry Conference earlier this month.
Barangaroo is an estimated AUD$6-billion (US$5.4-billion) partnership between the Barangaroo Delivery Authority, NSW Government and Lend Lease planned for Western Sydney on 22 hectares of land near the central business district on Darling Harbour.
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| The proposed luxury hotel at Barangaroo South. |
David Rolls, Lend Lease’s CEO of development, said the company took control of development of Barangaroo South—a 7.5 hectare site with residential, commercial and public space. Plans for the site call for a 250-room luxury hotel, which is why Lend Lease attended the conference. The hotel component was a mandatory part of the development, according to Rolls. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners is the architect of record for the project.
“This project is designed to emphasize Sydney as a financial center,” Rolls said. “The hotel component is deliberately a jewel in the crown.”
The proposed hotel is valued at AUD$250 million (US$225.3 million), and will be positioned on a new public pier. Investor and operator have yet to be decided, as the particulars of the project have not been approved by the NSW Government, but Rolls said they worked with several international hotel brands to conceptualize the project.
Lend Lease will manage the hotel development and construction, which is scheduled to be completed by 2014.
The final form of the distinctive hotel could change, Rolls said. “But the agreement with the government means the design had to justify the location. We could not get away with something mundane.”
By the time the hotel is finished, it will be 15 years since a high-end hotel was built in Sydney, he said. Land prices make Sydney an extremely pricey development option.
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| Barangaroo project |
“Hotels don’t drive land value,” Rolls said. “We don’t expect any significant land value, but we have to make sure it’s an iconic building; then we’ll start getting premium room rates.”
Barangaroo is divided into three areas: a southern precinct that will feature residential apartments, office buildings, cultural facilities, shops, a hotel and a dynamic public realm; a central area that will include a major waterfront park and low-rise mixed use development; and a northern headland that will include a park, restored headland and northern cove.
Other hotel interests
Lend Lease has two other projects in development that include hotel components.
- Victoria Harbour in Melbourne calls for an AUD$50 million (US$45.1 million), 180-room upscale hotel to be built by 2015.
- Plans for the redevelopment of RNA Showgrounds in Brisbane outline a 180-room midscale hotel near the new Ekka Plaza.