Little Collins Street's hotel precinct poised for another addition
Melbourne's hotel stronghold is poised to gain another addition as developer BPM pushes to gain approval for a project across 130-134 Little Collins Street.
Already heavy with existing hotels, the Little Collins Street / Exhibition Street axis stands to gain a 300-room NEXT Hotel which is currently under construction, in addition to BPM's intended tower. Entering planning late last year, the Little Collins Street project is the latest for BPM which has veered away from residential developments to focus on the current strong demand for hotel space within Melbourne's CBD.
BPM is looking to sell 9-11 Exploration Lane, having installed builder Maxcon to deliver the 100-metre tower. Upon its completion which is slated for late next year, the Elenberg Fraser-designed tower will stand 34 metres and occupy a miniscule 168 square metre site.
Also on BPM's for sale list is 33 King Street which includes 241 hotel rooms over 30 levels. It too is the design of Elenberg Fraser.
130-134 Little Collins Street's planning tilt follows on from Elenberg Fraser working on early design for then landowner Uniting Church of Australia.
During late 2016 BPM was installed by the Uniting Church as its preferred Joint Venture partner, with the duo then creating an "alternate development concept plan to ensure the most favourable planning outcome for the site." The revised scheme resulted in residential apartments being replaced by a purely residential hotel development.
According to the Uniting Church, "prior to the commencement of construction, the development partner, or a third party will enter into a contract of sale to purchase the accommodation hotel which will de-risk the project."
Uniting Church, in turn, will use the proceeds of the sale to support the operations of the wider church.
130-134 Little Collins Street sits alongside Citadines on Bourke Melbourne and is diagonally opposite the aforementioned NEXT Hotel on former Little Collins Street forecourt of what was Nauru House. Builder Multiplex now has the NEXT Hotel jump form above ground with an expected completion date for the 29-storey tower slated for next year.
Existing hotels in the south-east pocket of Melbourne's CBD include Stamford Plaza Melbourne, QT Melbourne, Sheraton Melbourne, Rydges Melbourne, Mantra Exhibition and Sofitel Melbourne.
Urban.com.au's Project Database shows 15 separate active hotel developments within Melbourne's CBD. Thousands of new hotel rooms and suites are set for the CBD despite the healthy number of completed hotel developments in recent years.