Developer Holdmark has submitted a State Significant Development Application for a 59-storey hotel and commercial tower in Sydney’s CBD.
Designed by global architecture studio Woods Bagot, the ‘sculptural’ 200-room luxury hotel at 4-6 Bligh Street is estimated to have an end value of $700 million.
The proposed tower features a rooftop bar at 200-metres high, hotel rooms from levels 14 to 56, eight levels of premium office space, meeting and event rooms, retail, restaurants, and bars.
Holdmark bought 17-storey office building Bligh House in May 2022 with the intention of developing the site, Holdmark Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Nassif, explained.
“We bought the asset purely on a commercial basis because we love the location, it has great development potential, and is 100% occupied, which indicates that quality well-located buildings will stand the test of COVID and test of time,” he said.
“We’re also comfortable to run a strong planning process that’s now under way.”
The tower features a solid ribbed façade with vertical fins and recessed slot windows. Woods Bagot’s design won a City of Sydney design excellence competition for the site.
City of Sydney Director of City Planning, Development and Transport Graham Jahn AM, said the design “displayed a masterful architectural clarity and precision”.
“The slender hotel tower and infill podium will complement the extraordinarily rich setting of superb heritage-listed buildings that surround the site,” he said.
Woods Bagot Principal and project design leader Ian Lomas said it’s the first project to take advantage of the Central Sydney Planning Strategy by the City of Sydney which allows skyscrapers of up to 300 metres in height for exclusively commercial use buildings.
“[It] allows us to get the height we’ve been able to achieve,” Lomas said.
“We wanted to make a strong design statement and the architectural concept has been conceived as a simple sculptural form that contrasts against an unruly and congested skyline.”
Nassif is confident in the future of tourism in Sydney’s CBD given State Government infrastructure investment and a focus on regenerating the city’s night-time economy.
“There’s no question that Sydney is on the path to becoming a truly global city and we’re excited to be part of that,” he said.
“We think there is enormous potential for tourism and that there is a long-term opportunity at the top end of the hotel market.”