Veriu Hotels & Suites has made its first move into Melbourne as part of its recently announced expansion plan, signing an agreement to build a new hotel as part of a mixed-use development in the city’s north-east.
A 79-room property, while still owned by Veriu Hotels, will operate under its Punthill Apartment Hotel brand and will feature as part of a new urban development dubbed “The Village Alphington”. To be built on the site of the former Amcor Paper Mill, the hotel will be one of five newbuild towers, with the other three to feature residential dwellings.
The emerging community precinct will feature a central square shopping village complete with a supermarket, commercial office tower and adjacent school.
Located 6kms from the Melbourne CBD, Punthill Alphington will feature studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments all equipped with full kitchens. A fitness centre and on-site meeting and conference space will also make up the development.
Punthill Alphington comes following the success of its most recent opening at nearby Punthill Ivanhoe and has been designed to take advantage of the corporate catchment areas on the city fringes in nearby Preston and Heidelburg. It marks the first official expansion project from newly appointed CEO Zed Sanjana, who recently joined the organisation after nine years in charge at Quest Apartment Hotels.
Commenting on this announcement, Sanjana said the Australian market had become dangerously under-supplied in terms of the upscale, design-driven apartment hotels in suburban markets.
“We believe that business travellers are increasingly looking for more unique and localised accommodation experiences within these corporate hubs.
“Punthill Alphington is the first of a number of new hotel announcements that we expect to make over the coming 6 months, with a further 3 greenfield projects set to be announced in Melbourne alone.”
Construction of Punthill Alphington will begin in the first half of 2019, with doors to be opened to guests the following year.