Billionaire Justine Hemmes has revealed his ambitious plans to transform five heritage buildings in the heart of Sydney’s CBD into a hospitality precinct.
The hospitality tycoon, who is the CEO of Merivale and runs Hemmes Hermitage along with his sister and mother, unveiled company plans to transform an area formerly known as Kings Green.
The company is hoping to transform five heritage buildings between King, York, Clarence and Barrack streets and turn them into a hospitality precinct.
Covering an area of 16,300sqm, the precinct will be an interconnected and mixed-use precinct, boasting a new hotel, office spaces and world-class dining.
The proposal, revealed by The Daily Telegraph, includes Hotel CBD – a multi-storey Victorian building bought by the company in 1995.
The remaining buildings include 50 King Street, 73 York Street, 71 York Street and 312 to 318 Clarence Street, which were all bought in 2022.
The transformation will not involve any major reconstruction or demolition, with the proposal maintaining the buildings’ heritage features, footprints and current heights.
Billionaire Justine Hemmes (pictured with his girlfriend Madeline Holtznagel) has proposed to transform five heritage buildings in the heart of Sydney’s CBD into a new hospitality precinct
Covering an area of 16,300sqm, the precinct will be an interconnected and mixed-use precinct, boasting a hotel, office space, dining and entertainment including bars and clubs
Mr Hemmes said Sydney was entering a ‘new and exciting era for hospitality and entertainment’.
He explained the proposed precinct would expand on the city’s 24-hour economy by giving residents and workers more choices with food, entertainment and beverages, and create hundreds of jobs.
‘We are setting out on a mission to transform the separate spaces of these incredible buildings into a combined, licenced precinct that will facilitate quality and accessible entertainment, food, beverage and accommodation options,’ Mr Hemmes said.
‘We want to build on the heritage and memories of our Hotel CBD venue, which we built and have operated since 1995.
‘The precinct is ideally located near public transport, existing retail space and a central CBD location.
‘We are thrilled 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 food, entertainment, office, accommodation and wellness facilities.’
Once approved, the project will be completed in stages, with each venue launched separately.
It comes as Mr Hemmes filed a lawsuit against Sydney Metro over its new Hunter Street station last month.
Mr Hemmes claims the station lowered the value of his famed $525million 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 Hotel CBD (pictured) – a multi-storey Victorian building bought by the company in 1995.
In a claim filed in the NSW Land and Environment Court, Hemmes Hermitage claimed Sydney Metro’s compulsory acquisition of lots of land it owned around the Ivy precinct block had caused it to lose easements, or points of access.
In September, the Merivale group was also accused of fostering a culture that placed women at risk, failing to address claims of sexual assault and condoning the use of drugs by patrons and staff.
Merivale strongly denied the allegations of a toxic work culture found in the ABC investigation and said in a statement that it took allegations of misconduct seriously.
The company also fired back at the ABC claiming it published ‘false and misleading material’.
Merivale, which runs more than 90 venues across Sydney and Victoria, is one of the country’s biggest hospitality groups, boasting a net worth of about $1.4billion.
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