Far East Consortium to develop Melbourne's first Ritz-Carlton

Far East Consortium to develop Melbourne's first Ritz-Carlton
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

Hong Kong's Far East Consortium will develop the first Ritz-Carlton hotel in Melbourne.

It will be atop the 79 level high-rise tower to be built at 250 Spencer Street, the former site of The Age.

The hotel will have 250 rooms on the highest 15 floors. 

Yesterday’s announcement follows the news that Ritz-Carlton had partnered with FEC to develop a new hotel at Elizabeth Quay in Perth.

Australia's first Ritz-Carlton was established when property veteran Sid Londish, the chairman of Comrealty, developed the Ritz-Carlton on Macquarie Street in the late 1980s for a Japanese millionaire singer, Masao Sen.

That was around 140 years after Cesar Ritz, a shepherd's son, was born in Switzerland.

Described as "the hotelier of kings and the king of hoteliers" by King Edward VII, Ritz opened his first hotel in Paris in June 1898 with finance from Marnier La Postolle, an old friend and the originator of the liqueur Grand Marnier, and culinary wizardry from Auguste Escoffier.

His idea was not to create a "grand hotel" but a new and original one - a home that would equal the comforts, security and service that discriminating patrons would provide for themselves.

Both Ritz and Escoffier had an interest in the Carlton Hotel in London and they combined their efforts to establish a Ritz-Carlton management company.

In 1910, the Ritz-Carlton opened in New York City.

Sydney's Ritz-Carlton was the 15th member of The Ritz-Carlton group and the first in the Pacific Basin.

Double Bay was the brief the location of the second Australian Ritz-Carlton.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.
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