Crowne Plaza books into Darling Harbour
Five years after it left Sydney’s CBD, the Crowne Plaza is back with a 4.5-star hotel as part of an accommodation, entertainment and residential development near Darling Harbour.
With Sydney flying high at the pinnacle of Australian hotel demand and room prices, Chinese-based developer Ausbao is attempting to capitalise with the 160-room hotel, planned for the corner of Bathurst and Sussex streets, to be built by 2019.
Bilbao, which is the local arm of Beijing Capital Development Holdings, is already a key player in the Sydney hotel market after building The Quay in Haymarket and another Sydney CBD offering – the Radisson Suites on Liverpool St.
The new Crowne Plaza will feature four conference rooms, a 300sqm ballroom, an 80-seat restaurant, a mezzanine lounge bar, a gymnasium and pool as part of the hotel component.
Sydney lags behind Melbourne in supply, which boasts 19,000 rooms with 6000 more in the development pipeline
Above the hotel will sit 95 one, two and three-bedroom luxury apartments.
The news comes as Sydney’s hotel market continues to surge, with research showing room rates grew by 4.7% in the year to June, while the revenue per available room was $196.33 – the highest result nationally and an increase of 6%.
An artist’s impressions of the new Crowne Plaza hotel in Sydney
Colliers International’s most recent market report shows Sydney’s hotels enjoyed an occupancy rate of more than 87% in the first half of the year, while its rooms attracted an average rate of $225 per night, $20 more than the next best city, Melbourne.
Gus Moors and Raymond Tran from Colliers International’s hotels team managed the operator selection process on behalf of BCDH.
Tran says Asian investors and developers are circling the Australian hotel market due to a continuing undersupply of rooms.
“There is still a long way to go with Sydney’s current supply of approximately 18,000 hotel rooms. Comparatively against other Asian international city counterparts, Hong Kong has 73,000 rooms and Singapore has 67,000 rooms,” Tran says.
“Sydney lags behind Melbourne in supply, which boasts 19,000 rooms with 6000 more in the development pipeline.”
“Crowne Plaza Sydney Darling Harbour will be the flagship for the BCDH portfolio in Sydney and will be celebrated as one of their centrepieces when it opens.”
