The Sydney-based residential developer, Crown Group, is branching out to the hotel sector and will offer a range of suites as a complement to its growing apartment towers from the east to the west of the city.
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Its first hotel, known as the Skye Hotel Suites, will open in Parramatta in early 2017 and will form part of the 29-storey, V by Crown Group development, known as Parramatta's vertical village.
As part of the launch into the hotel sector, Crown has appointed Wayne Taranto as director of hotels and suites.
Prior to his role at Crown Group Mr Taranto held senior management roles with Amalgamated Holdings, now Event Hospitality & Entertainment, and Accor Hotels, where he was the general manager of Sofitel Sydney Wentworth.
Mr Taranto said it was a "natural progression" for developers to pair hotels with their residential projects.
"We see there is strength in the hotel sector, particularly in Sydney, which has an undersupply of high-end luxury serviced apartments and suites.
"The aim is to offer traditional hotel services with apartment-style accommodation that will cater for business and leisure travellers."
Mr Taranto said the three locations of Parramatta, Green Square and Kent Street, in Sydney city, have been identified as the growth locations. The group will eventually expand interstate and overseas.
"We will focus on the east coast of Australia and once established in Sydney, will look at Melbourne, then Queensland, Perth when the market improves, and then Indonesia, where Crown was born."
Crown Group chief executive Iwan Sunito said Sydney's "second CBD" of Parramatta was a fitting location for the launch of the first Skye Hotel Suites.
"We are pleased to announce the debut of Skye Hotel Suites in Sydney, the first of many around the world," Mr Sunito said.
"Our vision is to create a collection of suites which will set a fresh lifestyle standard in Sydney."
The second-largest employment destination in the state, Parramatta was recently named the most livable suburb in NSW and is forecast to grow in population by 40 per cent by 2031.
"Parramatta is a powerhouse for innovation and business, attracting some of the best and brightest talent from across Australia and the world. With the phenomenal growth of western Sydney, the potential for the city is enormous," Mr Sunito said.
Expansion into luxury hotels was a natural progression for the company, he said.
"Asia is booming, and with it more and more people travel to Australia for holidays and for business. This has created a gap in the market as the demand increases for luxury hotel-style serviced apartments in Sydney and Australia.
"Expanding into the transient short-term accommodation market will provide a strong foundation for our continued expansion ,both locally and across the region."
