Work to start on Barrack Square hotel

Two weeks after Elizabeth Quay was opened to the public, construction trucks are coming back to Barrack Square, with work to begin on SKS Group’s DoubleTree by Hilton hotel next month.

SKS Group recently closed negotiations with the state government on a ground lease for the Old Perth Port site, paving the way for the Malaysia-backed developer to award a forward works contract for the 241-room hotel.

The lease deal was brokered by Colliers International, while Marine & Civil will perform the forward works.

SKS Group general manager Francis Foong said the forward works would take around 29 weeks, with main building work to start in October.

The hotel is scheduled to be complete by September 2018.

Portions of the hotel will be built on pylons over the Swan River, while Segway Tours WA, which currently operates out of the development site, will move out on March 13.

Construction starting will end a long-running saga in getting a hotel project off the ground at the Old Perth Port site.

An 11-storey proposal for the plot was knocked back in 2011, while SKS Group initially put forward its bid in 2013 and hoped to begin construction on the hotel in 2014.

Business News reported midway through last year that the delays on the SKS Group project were caused by protracted negotiations with the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority regarding the hotel’s design.

At the time, MRA chief executive Kieran Kinsella told Business News he made no apologies for seeking the best possible outcome on such a prominent development site.

A mock-up of one of SKS Group's rooms for its Northbridge DoubleTree by Hilton.

SKS Group is also progressing plans for two other DoubleTree by Hilton properties in Perth; one in Northbridge where construction is under way, and another in Fremantle, which is also subject to delays regarding design issues. 

Meanwhile, the DoubleTree hotel is not the only project expected to begin construction in coming months at Elizabeth Quay.

Premier Colin Barnett last month flagged building to begin within four months at the Ritz-Carlton site, immediately adjacent to Barrack Square on the eastern side of the quay.

The $400 million Ritz-Carlton project, being developed by Far East Consortium, will comprise three towers, one a 204-room luxury hotel and the other two containing 379 apartments.

Far East Consortium is understood to be evaluating construction tenders and is yet to announce who will build the hotel and apartment towers.

Sales of the apartments are being handled by PRD Nationwide.