Multiplex delivers Australia’s largest hotel
Singapore hotel giant M&L Hospitality has staked its claim on the Sydney CBD market with the $2 million redevelopment of 161 Sussex Street at Darling Harbour, completed by Multiplex last week.
The former Four Points by Sheraton was rebranded on 1 December as Hyatt Regency Sydney, marking the Hyatt Regency’s return to Sydney.
The redevelopment includes refurbishment of the existing hotel, as well as the construction of a new 3,667 sqm convention centre and a 25-level tower including 13 new hotel levels and 10 levels of A-grade high rise commercial office space.
The meeting space includes two ballrooms that can seat more than 1,000 people, while the hotel restaurant services 272 people at a time.
Already one of Australia’s largest hotels, the additional development adds 222 new guest rooms, bringing the total number of rooms to 892 and making Hyatt Regency Sydney the largest upscale, full-service hotel in Australia.
David Ghannoum, Multiplex’s regional managing director says the hotel will “contribute to the revitalisation of Darling Harbour as a vibrant tourism hub.”
Ghannoum says the team faced a number of challenges, including “building over an operating freeway and in a live hotel environment”.
A significant amount of construction took place over the top of the Western Distributor Freeway, a major feeder road from the Sydney CBD to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Construction was completed with minimal disruption to the 80,000 vehicles using the Western Distributor daily and the 600-plus guests staying at the hotel each night.
The project, which took two years to complete, generated around 2,2 jobs during construction. A further 90 hotel jobs will be created now it has reached completion, Ghannoum says.
Construction saw some 11,0 cubic metres of concrete poured and 635 tonnes of steel installed to create the building’s structure, and more than 1,388 glass panels installed to form the hotel’s facade.
Multiplex has delivered property and infrastructure assets since 1962, amounting to more than 1,000 projects with a combined value of US$66.2 billion.
Multiplex is also developing an eight-level hotel at 65-79 Sussex Street, after M&L Hospitality acquired the site from local developer Alfasi in 2016.