St Kilda Road office building to become $300m luxury hotel
A six-storey office tower on Melbourne’s St Kilda Road boulevard that was once a state government dental facility will be transformed into a $300 million hotel, spa and apartment building under plans unveiled by local developer Orchard Piper and the building’s owner, the Carter family.
The Carter Group, established by the late Len Carter and now led by his son Stuart and daughter Maxine, purchased 448 St Kilda Road for $4.7 million in 1999. It then spent a further $5 million adding an aluminum and glass facade and redoing the interiors at a time when the boulevard was primarily an office precinct.
As St Kilda Road evolves into a mixed-use precinct with many residential towers, the Carter family and its development partner plan to demolish the office building and replace the 2400 sq m site with a 17-storey mixed-used tower due for completion in 2026.
The lower 10 floors will house a 108-room hotel and spa, while above will be 55 upmarket apartments aimed at young professionals, downsizers and transient buyers, according to Orchard Piper director Luke McKie.
Mr McKie said the motivation for a hotel-anchored project was the lack of quality short-stay accommodation on St Kilda Road, which is the main thoroughfare into the city from Melbourne’s affluent Bayside and south-eastern suburbs.
One of the few remaining hotels on St Kilda Road, The Blackman Hotel, operated by Accor, permanently closed during the pandemic.
Mr McKie said a development application had been lodged with the City of Phillip with the aim to start construction in early 2024 and welcome guests and residents in 2026.
“Once the office leases run out, we’ll start marketing the apartments in the project,” he said.
The proposed hotel joins a 180-room Marriott Executive Apartments at 472 St Kilda Road, which is also due to open in 2026 as part of a mixed-use development by Sunnyland Investment Group.
Not far away, French designer Philippe Starck’s YOO Hotels is set to make its debut at 28 Albert Road in 2025.
All three hotels will be within walking distance of the new Anzac Station, which is due to open in 2025 as part of the Metro Tunnel and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Under an agreement struck between the two parties, Orchard Piper will co-own the completed hotel, spa and restaurants with the Carter family, rather than take a cut of profits from the project.
The developer has more than $1.1 billion of projects under way in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Last month it purchased the prized Mercedes-Benz site in Toorak for $67 million.
The Carter family are no strangers to both residential and hotel development, having completed Albert Tower, a landmark apartment building in South Melbourne, in 2013, as well as the Tingirana and Seahaven hotels in Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
Designed by Kerry Hill Architects, the firm behind the Aman Hotels chain, the 448 St Kilda Road tower will include locally sourced bluestone on its facade. Well-known spa consultant Sonja Sorich will design the 500 square metre day spa.
Other amenities include a mezzanine restaurant and bar, street level cafe, and conferencing and event spaces.