IMAX owner confirms option to build hotel on site as back-up to office block plans
DARLING Harbour’s IMAX theatre site could become a major hotel with the company that bought the site confirming plans for the option.
An artist impression of a proposed hotel option for the Darling Harbour site now occupied by the IMAX theatre.
Grocon, who bought the site in early October, today said it was considering an option for a hotel, serviced apartments and a retail development for the prime site.
The company is hedging its bets with the application for the site which had planning approval granted last year for a premium office and retail complex called The Ribbon.
“Multiple uses are permissible on the IMAX site, with the exception of residential.
With the completion of the ICC Sydney next year and the fact there is significantly increased market appetite for hotels, we have decided to explore this as an option,” Grocon’s head of development, Dan McLennan said.
“We have been in discussions with Starwood Hotels & Resorts regarding a ‘W’ Hotel and we are also currently talking to a range of international investors.
JLL Hotels Craig Collins and Dean Dransfield of Dransfield Hotels and Resorts have been engaged to facilitate this process.
“There is predicted shortfall of high-quality hotel accommodation beyond 2020 and tourism and business visitor numbers continue to grow so Sydney needs to have the facilities to meet their needs,” he said.
But fans of the IMAX theatre need not fear for its future as both the office and hotel schemes include provision for a new cinema.
Source: The Daily Telegraph, Matt Cullen, 17th November 2015
Originally published as: IMAX owner confirms option to build hotel on site as back-up to office block plans
