The Sydney skyline is preparing for another shake-up with the launch of three potential designs for the planned 60-storey, $500 million new hotel and apartments at The Star, Pyrmont.
The Pyrmont peninsula is the new battleground for casino and hotel operators as The Star Entertainment takes on its rival James Packer's plans for his six-star integrated hotel complex at Barangaroo South, just over the Pyrmont Bridge.
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New vision for Darling Harbour
The Darling Harbour Live development will feature a new International Convention Centre, state-of-the-art entertainment complex and revitalised public spaces. Vision: Lend Lease.
It comes as the nearby Darling Harbour precinct is in the final stages of a $2 billion-plus revamp, including the new International Convention Centre, opening next month, and the nearby Sofitel Hotel, which is due for completion in 2017.
The precinct will also see a new Harbourside Shopping Centre and apartment tower, while across Cockle Bay there are plans for a new office tower, and the nearby Imax Theatre is also expected to be the site for another hotel.
The chief executive of the Urban Taskforce, Chris Johnson added that the bold designs for the Star Casino's proposed 215-metre high tower should lead to more towers on the Pyrmont peninsula.
"The Sydney CBD peninsula is looking spectacular with its vertical combination of tall towers and as the city grows this should be balanced by something similar on the Pyrmont peninsula," Mr Johnson said.
However, the influx of events next year will still see Sydney in a deficit for hotel rooms, according to operators.
As revealed by Fairfax Media last month, the proposed 215 metre tower will comprise a 220-room hotel and 150 residences at The Star will be built on the corner of Pirrama and Jones Bay roads and are in addition to works costing $500 million already under way at The Star, including the refurbishment of rooms at the Astral Tower and Residences.
The short list for the architects to design the proposed new Ritz-Carlton at The Star are Grimshaws, which has worked in Sydney's CBD, the South East Light rail and, the new vertical high school in Parramatta; fjmt, which designed 200 George Street; and BVN, a multiple winner of the Sir John Sulman Medal for Public Architecture at the NSW Architecture Awards.
The three designs are striking in their differences but all contain an array of conference rooms, a new ballroom, floating pools, extensive food courts and upmarket restaurants.
The final preferred scheme for The Star will be decided by a design review panel including the managing director, The Star Sydney Greg Hawkins, NSW government architect Peter Poulet, Group GSA director Lisa-Maree Carrigan, UTS professor and Six Degrees Urban director Craig Allchin, and Marriott International's regional vice-president of hotel development Asia Pacific, James Doolan.
There will also be a community engagement program as part of the design process.
Under the plan, Marriott hotels will be the operator under the Ritz-Carlton of the Star's hotel.
President and managing director, Marriott International Asia Pacific, Craig. S Smith said The Ritz-Carlton decided to become the operator for the proposed hotel at Pyrmont, as Sydney is one of the world's great cities and where The Ritz-Carlton guests want to be.
"When Star Entertainment told us about its plans to transform its casino into a truly international-standard integrated resort we knew having The Ritz-Carlton hotel on top of the signature high-rise tower, with spectacular views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and CBD skyline, was a great idea. The Ritz-Carlton will become another iconic view of Sydney," Mr Smith said.
Paul Foskey, the Ritz-Carlton's executive vice president for hotel development, Asia Pacific said the group viewed Sydney as a key market for our Ritz-Carlton brand, and "we're excited about this development and the design competition that precedes it".
"Ritz-Carlton is a luxury brand that deserves a landmark building of iconic stature. It's a combination that will add further lustre to the global appeal of this famous Australian city," Mr Foskey said.
"We're very confident about the luxury leisure tourism industry in Australia. The potential to drive increased visitation from Asia, and China in particular, is huge.
"Ritz-Carlton resonates extremely well with Chinese travellers. We have 12 open hotels in the country and have been established in the key markets there for many years. There are another 12 Ritz-Carlton properties in the pipeline for China."
Mr Foskey said Chinese outbound travellers, expected to top 120 million this year, have also been venturing further afield in recent years looking for authentic international experiences.
"Australia and Sydney are rapidly growing in popularity with these guests,' he said. We look forward to working with The Star Entertainment Group to deliver memorable experiences for our guests."Â
The Star Entertainment Group managing director Matt Bekier the group is proud to be working with The Ritz-Carlton and partners Chow Tai Fook and Far East on delivering – pending all necessary approvals – a six-star hotel and associated developments that will further enhance Sydney as a "compelling tourism destination".
"We operate in a highly-competitive industry. To be at the forefront globally we need to invest and redevelop to ensure we create unforgettable experiences in one of the world's great cities," Mr Bekier said.
"Key to that are luxury hotels, and restaurant options that range from the best of high-end dining to readily accessible pop-ups, ensuring we cater to a broad range of price points for locals and tourists alike.
"Our development concept will take The Star's room inventory to around 1000, bring The Ritz-Carlton back to Sydney and allow us to really enhance and increase our contribution to Sydney's tourism offering.
"Sydney needs more quality hotels, and exciting entertainment and hospitality infrastructure if it's to capitalise on the tourism opportunity which will be a long term growth driver for Australia.
"Equally, we are committed to the community engagement program we're undertaking as part of the planning process for this development."