Billionaire Justine Hemmes has revealed his ambitious plans to transform five heritage buildings in the heart of Sydney’s central business district into a hotel precinct.
The hospitality tycoon, who is the chief executive of Merivale and runs Hemmes Hermitage alongside his sister and mother, revealed the company’s plans to transform an area formerly known as Kings Green.
The company hopes to transform five heritage buildings between King, York, Clarence and Barrack streets and turn them into a hotel precinct.
With a surface area of 16,300 square meters, the site will be an interconnected, mixed-use facility, featuring a new hotel, office spaces and world-class restaurants.
The proposal, revealed by The daily telegraphincludes the CBD Hotel, a multi-storey Victorian building acquired by the company in 1995.
The remaining buildings include 50 King Street, 73 York Street, 71 York Street and 312 to 318 Clarence Street, all purchased in 2022.
The transformation will not involve any major reconstruction or demolition, and the proposal will maintain the heritage features, footprints and current heights of the buildings.
Billionaire Justine Hemmes (pictured with girlfriend Madeline Holtznagel) has proposed transforming five heritage buildings in the heart of Sydney’s central business district into a new hotel precinct.
Spanning 16,300 square metres, the site will be an interconnected, mixed-use venue, featuring a hotel, office space, restaurants and entertainment, including bars and nightclubs.
Mr Hemmes said Sydney was entering an “exciting new era for hospitality and entertainment”.
He explained that the proposed precinct would expand the city’s 24-hour economy by giving residents and workers more options in food, entertainment and beverages, and would create hundreds of jobs.
“We have set out to transform the separate spaces of these incredible buildings into a combined licensed precinct that will facilitate affordable, quality entertainment, food, drink and accommodation options,” Mr Hemmes said.
‘We want to build on the legacy and memories of our CBD Hotel, which we built and operated since 1995.
‘The precinct is ideally located close to public transport, existing commercial spaces and a central CBD location.
“We are delighted to bring to life and celebrate some of the CBD’s most beautiful and interesting buildings and share them with the public through the creation of new dining, entertainment, office, accommodation and wellbeing facilities.”
Once approved, the project will be completed in stages with each location launched separately.
It comes as Hemmes filed a lawsuit against Sydney Metro over its new Hunter Street station last month.
Hemmes claims the station wrote down the value of his famed $525 million Ivy Precinct nightspot, owned by his company Hemmes Hermitage.
The Ivy precinct, located at 320 and 330 George Street, includes the Ivy nightclub and several popular bars and restaurants such as Bar Topa, Totti’s and Jimmy’s Falafel.
The proposal includes the CBD Hotel (pictured), a multi-storey Victorian building purchased by the company in 1995.
In a lawsuit filed in the New South Wales Land and Environment Court, Hemmes Hermitage claimed that Sydney Metro’s compulsory acquisition of plots of land it owned around the Ivy District block had caused it to lose easements or access points.
In September, the Merivale group was also accused of fostering a culture that put women at risk, failing to address allegations of sexual assault and condoning drug use by customers and staff.
Merivale strongly denied allegations of a toxic workplace culture found in the ABC investigation and said in a statement that it took allegations of misconduct seriously.
The company also responded to ABC alleging that it had published “false and misleading material.”
Merivale, which operates more than 90 venues in Sydney and Victoria, is one of the country’s largest hotel groups, with a net worth of around $1.4 billion.