American hospitality group SH Hotels & Resorts has announced it will manage a newbuild 280-room hotel to be built alongside Melbourne’s Yarra River under its nature-inspired lifestyle 1Hotels brand, marking the label’s maiden foray outside of the United States.
Confirmed today by Victoria’s Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade, Martin Pakula, the new hotel will form part of the $450 million ‘Seafarers’ mixed-use precinct set to be constructed by Riverlee alongside the city’s iconic seaway. Construction is currently slated to begin next year, with doors open to the public in 2022.
To be designed by Fender Katsalidis, the new development will also include residential apartments, new restaurants and bars and a function centre. Around 3,500 square metres of riverside public park will also form part of the development.
Over 550 jobs will be created in the hotel’s construction, with over a hundred more in the ongoing operation of the hotel, bars, restaurants and convention centre.
Sustainability will be front and centre in the Seafarers complex, with recycled materials including salvaged timber from Melbourne’s wharf restoration works, native greenery and industrial steel to be incorporated in the finished product.
In addition to 1Hotels, SH Hotels & Resorts operates the Baccarat Hotels brand along with its premium SH Hotels Collection flagship label.
Four locations are currently open for the 1Hotels brand – Central Park and Brooklyn Bridge in New York, South Beach in Miami and West Hollywood in California. The brand is in the midst of a significant expansion, with new resorts in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Sanya, China, Silicon Valley, California and Hanalei Bay, Hawaii all due to open by the end of next year.
“We’re excited to bring 1 Hotels to Australia, working alongside a world-class organisation like Riverlee. We look forward to creating the finest luxury destination in the heart of Melbourne,” said SH Hotels & Resorts President, Arash Azarbarzin.