Showing posts with label westin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label westin. Show all posts

Friday, October 10, 2008

Fall of an Empire

The Empire Square project on Elizabeth Street in Brisbane, which was to include a Westin Hotel, has been scrapped.

"Developer Metacorp is today in the process of advising investors it will not proceed with the development because it has lost financial backing, sources have told brisbanetimes.com.au. The empty retail stores on the site of the planned development have been readvertised for lease."

It was reported that a large number of the 100 apartments had sold off the plan. The minimum price was $1.3M for a 2 bed apartment.

See Brisbane Times.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Vision or not?

See this AFR story, which says that Vision does not have finance and no construction contract has been signed. Trilogy sounds more optimistic. It reports that 74 out of 192 hotel apartments have been sold. The Westin Empire Square -- hard to tell what is actually happening -- sales are good, but no finance yet.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Google Insights

Google has an interesting service, that allows you to see what people are searching for on Google.

It is called Google Insights. It is helpful when making investment decisions.

For example, when looking at searches conducted in Australia over the past 12 months, the following are relative rankings of various searches:

trilogy brisbane
mill albion
empire square
westin brisbane
sl8


mirvac
pradella
devine
fkp
stockland


indooroopilly
new farm
west end
st lucia
toowong


Monday, August 11, 2008

Will Empire Square Get Built?

There was an interesting story in The Australian last week, but states that the Empire Square development in Brisbane has not yet obtained construction finance. Also, no construction contract has been signed. The developer says:

"The worst possible scenario for Empire Square would be that if it didn't start by the end of the year, for whatever reason, we would be left with half an acre in the CBD that could be rented out for the next two or three years," Mr Chopard said.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Empire Square - presales

"Located from level 47 up, the 98 two-and three-bedroom apartments are priced from $1.3 million and marketed as having full access to the services of the building's Westin Hotel.

The residential component also includes six penthouses priced from $4.5 million.

Metacap Developments insists there has been no shortage of interest in the $500 million development, which also includes 306 hotel suites and 23,000 square metres of commercial space.

Expressions of interest were placed on 80 per cent of private apartments, before sales officially opened yesterday.

"We have already been inundated with enquiries... (this) is a great result, particularly given current market conditions," company director Jerome Chopard said.

Empire Square will also feature 306 hotel suites and a range of five-star facilities, including a gym, pool and restaurant.

Permanent residents will have access to the full services of the hotel, including the concierge, maid, doorman and personal assistant."

From Brisbane Times, 30 July

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Westin to Block Casino Towers and Festival Towers views

Here is a photograph that I took today from the South side of the Brisbane River.


Casino Towers is the tallest looking building, in the centre of the photo. (Casino Towers is 120 metres high). To the left of Casino Towers, you can see Festival Towers. The Casino is the old building in the foreground. Number 111 George Street is on the far right (145 metres).

Below, is a similar photo, showing the planned Westin Empire Square building. As you can see, Festival Towers will be impacted (you can't even see it in the photo below), and many apartments in that building that have river views today may not have river views when the Westin is complete. The Westin Empire Square will be 62 levels and 220 metres high. Also, a number of the "back" apartments in Casino Towers will have their views taken away by the Westin Empire Square.

Trilogy Update

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Trilogy Tower - Going Ahead

Trilogy is a building that will have three parts - office, hotel and residents. APH tried to sell the office component and failed. See Brisbane's $300m Trilogy tower campaign fails from The Australian.

That article states:

APH managing director John Wilson said a funding package, led by the Bank of Scotland, was now in place for Trilogy and negotiations finalised with builder Laing O'Rourke.

"At no stage have we hesitated," he said.

A deal had been signed with a five-star hotel operator and would be announced soon.

Marketing would begin this month on the sale of the 192 one- and two-bedroom hotel apartments, which would range in price from $500,000 to $900,000.

The 110 residential apartments at the top of the tower would be priced between $1 million and $5million.

A start of work on the $700 million Trilogy -- which APH said would be taller than any other existing building in Brisbane -- would confirm the race had begun to deliver the city's next generation of super towers.

However, with funding difficult in the wake of the credit crisis, analysts believe many of the developments proposed for Brisbane will fail to materialise.

With timing now crucial, GPT Group has started work on its $500 million 111 Eagle Street tower nearby, and work is under way on Austcorp's $1 billion Vision tower.

APH has begun demolition on its site between Queen and Adelaide streets and expects to start construction next month.

Mr Wilson said special techniques would speed construction and allow delivery of the office space by May 2011.

"As far as we know we will be first to market, in terms of buildings that are about to start," Mr Wilson said.

Meanwhile, Metacap Developments -- a joint venture between Sydney-based Newell Palmer Securities and Brisbane developer Alex Jimenez -- has announced it will start construction in the new financial year on its $500 million Empire Square tower on Elizabeth Street. It secured a deal last year with five-star hotel operator Westin over the 306 hotel rooms and 104 branded apartments.

Empire Square will include about 23,500sqm of A-grade office space.


Saturday, May 10, 2008

Empire Square Article


Extracts from the Brisbane Times:


http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2008/05/09/1210131233926.html

  • Construction will begin later this year on a 65-storey residential, commercial and hotel high-rise on Elizabeth Street that is set to dominate Brisbane's skyline.
  • The tower will comprise 306 luxury hotel suites, 98 two and three-bedroom apartments and six penthouses.
  • A recreational area will be located on level 30 of the building and feature a luxury day spa, 20m indoor swimming pool, sauna and gym.
  • Metacap director James Chopard said permanent residents would have access to services like gourmet chef-prepared room service, housekeeping, a concierge and valet parking.
  • Designed by architecture firm Cottee Parker, the soaring green skyscraper will dwarf neighbouring buildings and sit across from the car park entrance to the Myer Centre.
  • Colliers International has been appointed as marketing agents for the development and two-bedroom apartments will be priced from $1.3 million.
  • Construction is expected to start at the end of the year and completion is scheduled for 2012.
See: Press Release

See video

Monday, April 28, 2008

Monday, April 21, 2008

Empire Square - Residences

Floor plan for Westin Residences - Empire Square - at the top end of Elizabeth Street, Brisbane

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Brisbane Westin

The Empire Square development is now in pre-sales. It is called The Residences at the Brisbane Westin Empire Square.

"The building area will be approximately 85,000m2. It is designed to be 250 metres high with 68 storeys and 62 habitable floor levels. Currently there are only 2 other buildings in the Brisbane CBD of comparable height.

The building architects Cottee Parker Architects Pty Ltd have designed an iconic structure which will be a signature building in Brisbane, with an ultra-modern tower and timeless qualities adding to the elegance of the city skyline.

Internally, the design aims to create a pleasing and peaceful ambiance in keeping with the elegance of the structure, whilst providing modern and practical solutions.

The development will be located on a land area of almost 2,000m2 at the upper end and southwest side of Elizabeth Street Brisbane.

The building will also feature 23 floors of "A grade" office space from levels 5 to 27. The office section will have a separate foyer and dedicated lift bank.

The building will also incorporate 104 strata titled residential apartments over 16 floors from floor 47 to 62. The current proposal is to integrate the apartments within the ´5 Star Hotel´. Through the integration concept, the apartments will be complementary to the Hotel and benefit from a wide range of premium facilities offered by the Hotel including; swimming pool, gymnasium, sauna, steam bath, relaxation lounge, food and beverage, house-keeping and laundry services.

The development will provide a range of accommodation choices from two bedroom apartments (some with study) to three bedroom sky homes and double storey penthouses. Prices start at $1,300,000.

The Hotel will occupy 20 levels of hotel rooms and facilities, which will incorporate 306 luxury hotel rooms and suites, including a presidential suite overlooking South Bank.

Level 30 will feature the hotel´s recreational facilities including pool, his & hers gyms, beauty centre and day spa. Meeting rooms and a business centre will also be available to guests.

Bar and dining facilities will be available on the mezzanine levels."