$200m 37-level hotel planned for Auckland CBD

The Albert St/Wyndham St corner in Auckland's CBD.

A 37-level $200 million 490-room Holiday Inn Express and Even hotel tower is planned in Auckland's heart, according to an Australian corporate chief.

Tim Sherlock, managing director of Australia's Pro-invest Developments which is part of the Pro-invest Group, said today his company was planning the tower and both hotel brands, owned by the United States' Intercontinental Hotels, would be run from it.

"We are acquiring a portion of the NZME site, purchasing land on the Wyndham St frontage and about 25m on Albert St," Sherlock said.

The land is owned by a Mansons TCLM entity and Mansons has previously proposed a hotel, apartment and office tower for the site, branding it 1 Mills Lane. In the meantime, floor space has been leased to tenants.

Sherlock said his company intended to buy only part of that site spanning Albert St, Swanson St, Wyndham St and Mills Lane.

The tower would be built and the two InterContinental brands run from there to answer the critical Auckland accommodation shortage, Sherlock said.

"This will be duel-branded Holiday Inn Express on the lower levels and Even on the upper levels, around 37 levels," he said.

"Even is only in the US at the moment and it's a product where it has a full gym for people travelling and wanting to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

"There's clearly a shortage of hospitality offerings in New Zealand. The market is very buoyant so as an Australian group, it's a logical progressions. Our entrance to New Zealand is through Queenstown and a Holiday Inn Express," he said.

"We also have a site in Queenstown," Sherlock said, referring to a proposed Holiday Inn Express proposed there.

The site at 46 Albert St in Auckland when APN occupied it. Photo/Glenn Jeffrey.

"Pro-invest has a master development agreement. We're the owner, operator and developer and we manage Holiday Inn and Even under franchise from InterContinental Hotels," he said.

"We're yet to lodge planning consent," he said of the Auckland scheme where no architect or builder had been appointed.

"We're very keen to work proactively with the [Auckland] Council and Government to make sure we more this forward as quickly as possible. We're planning 490 rooms of which 290 will be Holiday Inn Express and 200 Even," Sherlock said.

Limited dining options were planned so the hotel would be a big benefit to the food and beverage operators in the vicinity, he indicated.

"Holiday Inn Express has a breakfast offering. Even has [food and beverage] but it's an out-sourced one. That site is a nice location," he said, indicating a strong Wyndham St presence where the main entry was planned and less of an Albert St presence due to buses.

"It's in the financial district which works well for us," Sherlock said.

Pro-invest is a boutique investment firm specialised in private equity real estate, real estate asset management, and private equity, it says.

Pro-invest's web site links to a

video

, showing a time lapse of Holiday Inn Express Brisbane.

Culum Manson of Mansons TCLM. Photo/Doug Sherring

Culum Manson of Mansons TCLM could not discuss the hotel proposal or any plans for the site. However, he did confirm Mansons still owned the site.

SEE THE SITE:

"We are in the process of clearing the site and it is still owned by us. We are definitely in discussions with different types of users for the site and have been for sometime. It is quite big site so many options but nothing firm to confirm yet," Manson said today.

Sherlock could give no indication of when consent for the tower would be sought, when construction might start, any indicative room rates or when the tower might be finished.

In 2015, Mansons launched plans for 1 Mills Lane on the site.

It was far too early to give that level of detail, he said. No formal announcement has been made of Pro-invest's plans for the site, he said.