One of Greater Melbourne’s fastest growing areas is set to benefit from a AUD$70 million hotel development that will service the rapid increase of activity in Melbourne’s booming northern suburbs.
Epping will be the site of the 214-room hotel that is being designed to capitalise on both the history of the northern suburbs and the unique attributes of Epping today.
Located right near Melbourne’s new wholesale fruit, vegetable and cut flower market and The Northern Hospital, construction is due to start in the latter part of 2017 with opening scheduled for mid-2019.
The hotel is being developed by Too Build and will be operated by Mantra Group under a management agreement.
Operating as Mantra Epping Hotel, it will feature both hotel rooms and apartments, a café/restaurant, brewhouse, conference and meeting facilities, gymnasium, and an open car park containing 143 marked bays and secure bicycle storage.
Occupying a prime corner position at 250 Cooper Street within the Northpoint Enterprise Park at Epping, Melbourne’s fastest growing expansion corridor just 18km north of the CBD, the four-star, two-wing hotel has been designed by leading architect Peddle Thorp and Bruce Henderson Interiors.
One of Australia’s largest construction companies, Hacer Group, has been engaged to complete the project build, creating an expected 300 construction jobs.
Mantra Group Chief Executive Officer, Bob East, said the Group is thrilled to operate this new-build hotel under a hotel management agreement.
“This acquisition comes at an opportune time in the Australian hotel market, with hotels in Melbourne and surrounds experiencing substantial uplift in demand in recent years,” East said.
“This strong performance is set to continue with further domestic and international visitation uplift forecasted for the greater Melbourne market.
“Mantra Epping Hotel will complement our extensive Melbourne portfolio and reaffirms our strategy of securing desirable new properties in Australian capital city metropolitan markets.
“With its strong and varied accommodation demand drivers, we’re confident this hotel will provide a market-leading hotel offering, well positioned to become the region’s premier corporate, meetings and leisure hotel,” he said.
Too Build Chief Executive Officer, Ian Wilson, said the project is perfectly timed to accommodate the next stage of growth for Epping.
“What’s exciting to me is to create something I know the local community – traders and residents alike – will really want to spend time in whether they have guests staying at the hotel or not,” he said. “Mantra Epping Hotel will become a proud part of the local community and a favourite meeting spot.
“Mantra Epping Hotel is surrounded by an array of retail shops, showrooms, business and industrial premises, plus The Northern Hospital and the newly relocated Melbourne Market are both situated nearby, which will all provide important business opportunities for the property.”