$100M revamp for InterContinental Sydney

The InterContinental Sydney is about to receive a $100 million revamp, courtesy of Malaysian property investors, Mulpha.

This will be the hotel’s biggest upgrade in three decades.

According to Mulpha Australia chief executive Greg Shaw, preliminary building work has already commenced and the revamp has come at a good time as the hospitality sector starts to recover from lockdowns.

“For us it’s a very opportunistic time to undertake a major redevelopment of the property. We’ll be spending in the order of $100 million,” he told The Australian Financial Review.

“The Intercontinental has always traded very strongly in the Sydney market. This presents an opportunity for us to use 2021 to undertake a very comprehensive refurbishment of the property and re-present the hotel as a very high-end, five-star product in 2022 when we expect the market to be through a strong recovery phase.”

The revamp has been designed by Rockwell Group, a New York architectural firm, along with local architects Woods Bagot.

The revamp will include an upgrade of all 500-plus guest rooms and corridors. Refurbishment of the ground level including the Macquarie Street entry will also be included.

The heritage central court will home a new public bar together with an additional new bar in the level 32 Club InterContinental lounge.

The project is set to be completed in early 2022 with the hotel remaining open throughout most of this time.

Irit Jackson - 3rd December 2020