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350-room All-suites Hotel in Melbourne, Australia |
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| HONOLULU, OAHU, HAWAII -- Senior executives from Outrigger Hotels &
Resorts were in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne, Australia, on April
6th to finalize negotiations for the company's first operation in the Australian
state of Victoria.
Leading the delegation was Outrigger Chairman, Dr Richard Kelley, who said he was delighted to be visiting Australia and seeing first-hand the striking designs for the planned property, which will be called Outrigger on Bourke. "The whole shape of the building and curved facade is reminiscent of our own logo that contains the sail of an outrigger canoe," Dr. Kelley commented. Located next to Telstra Dome, a major Victoria venue for sporting events and other activities, the proposed site of the Outrigger on Bourke will be developed through a joint venture arrangement with RIA Property Group, headed up by principals Larry Bowtell and Steve Apperly, and VicUrban, the Victorian state government's urban development agency. The proposed 35-storey Outrigger on Bourke, would be built on a 6600 square meter site adjacent to the Telstra Dome and the Bourke Street bridge, and its cutting edge design is expected to become a striking addition to the Docklands skyline. The development, worth in excess of AUS$250 million, would boast an interesting mix of activities, with an approximately 350-room all-suites hotel on the first 19 levels, and the remaining upper 17 levels dedicated to private residences. The project would also include commercial office space as well as dining and recreational facilities. Outrigger's Managing Director for Oceania, Dave Lawrence, who is based at the company's Australia headquarters on the Gold Coast and who has led Outrigger's steady growth throughout Australia and the South Pacific region, said the company had been in discussions with RIA for almost two years. "Melbourne is viewed by Outrigger as the perfect location for our expansion into metropolitan centers," he said. "It is a gateway city, and its strong tourism numbers from both the inbound and domestic markets will enable us to complement this growth through our own worldwide marketing. I believe that the site's excellent waterfront location and the quality of the development, its aesthetics and proximity to a range of attractions, will enable us to market the hotel to a range of leisure markets and the corporate sector." The hotel's proximity to Telstra Dome, which is becoming increasingly popular as a conference and sports venue, will also enable Outrigger to aggressively market the hotel to these lucrative sectors. "Because this hotel will straddle both the corporate and leisure markets, Outrigger was seen as the perfect choice of operator," said Tim Bowtell from RIA. "This will quickly become one of Melbourne's most successful hotels," he added. Bill Henderson, Outrigger's Vice President for Business Development from the Honolulu headquarters office, is also in Australia this week, and observed that the addition of Outrigger on Bourke marks another significant milestone in the ongoing growth of Outrigger's Pacific portfolio. "With today's announcement, we will now have a strategic presence in
each of Australia's eastern states, including Queensland, where we currently
operate 10 resorts; New South Wales, where we recently opened at Kingscliff
in Northern NSW and where we will open next month at Ettalong near Sydney;
and now in Victoria, with a great property at a great location adjacent
to a major sporting and meeting venue in Australia's second largest city."
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts is a family-owned and operated company deeply committed to providing authentic island hospitality in premiere destinations throughout the Pacific. Each Outrigger property embraces the local culture to create a true sense of place for guests. Outrigger Hotels & Resorts and OHANA Hotels & Resorts are divisions of Outrigger Enterprises, Inc., Hawaii's largest locally owned hospitality-company and one of the fastest-growing hotel companies in the Pacific managing over 50 properties with more than 12,000 rooms in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti and Guam. |
| Contact:
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts
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