Accom wrap: Accor to lead world with Aussie-grown Tribe

Accor has announced plans to turn Australian prefabricated hotel brand Tribe into a global phenomenon.

The country’s biggest hotels operator is looking to develop more than 50 of the modular hotels around the world after becoming the brand’s majority owner.

The first Tribe hotel opened in Perth in 2017, with the model set to be replicated in 150 countries worldwide by 2030 according to Accor.

A 290-room hotel is slated for launch in Glasgow mid-year, one of ten launches for Tribe scheduled across Europe and Asia Pacific totalling more than 1700 rooms over the next three years.

“The pipeline of over 50 hotels currently being negotiated for the coming years leads us to believe that the Tribe brand will achieve significant growth all over the world including in gateway locations such as Paris, London, Singapore, Dubai Bangkok,” said Accor’s chief development officer Gaurav Bhushan.

[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”15046″ align=”left”]Trailblazer Tribe Perth was constructed from 63 fitted out modules constructed in a factory in China and then stacked on top of one another like Lego blocks.

It’s design and construction was developed by Mark and Melissa Peters, who secured the backing of Salta Properties and the Victor Smorgon Group to undertake the $30 million development. The group will retain ownership of the Perth property and look to expand their Tribe portfolio at home and overseas.

The next Australian Tribe Hotel looks likely to be open in Melbourne, with a Collingwood site already secured for development.

Hot Coles 

Coles is offloading management of its 87 hotels in a $200 million deal with private equity-controlled Australian Venue Co.

The supermarket giant will set up a 50-50 joint venture with the Melbourne company, which is controlled by KKR & Co, to split the operation of its Spirit Hotels business.

Coles will continue to manage 243 retail liquor stores in Queensland and ten more attached to Spirit Hotels in Western Australia and South Australia, while AVC will pay $200 million for the management of the 87 properties that comprise Coles’ hotel and gaming business.

“The agreement with AVC will enable each party to bring relevant expertise to the joint venture,” Coles chief executive Steven Cain said.

“AVC has plans to grow the hotel portfolio in Queensland, which will in turn provide Coles with the opportunity to further grow its retail liquor business in that state.”

The structure of the deal is due to Queensland’s liquor and gaming laws, which mean bottle shop licensees must hold a commercial hotel licence for a pub within 10 kilometres.

Bounce rebounds

Owners of Sydney’s recently closed Bounce Hostel are planning a replacement $10.8 million, 16-storey hostel on George Street in the city.

Fuqiang Investments is reportedly seeking council approval for a new five-star backpacker hostel  comprising 291 dorm beds and ten private rooms accommodating up to 311 guests.

Fuqiang bought the Bounce Hostel for $18.3 million in September 2015 and then sold it the NSW government for $30 million, to be demolished to make way for a new eastern entrance to Central Station.

Its replacement, designed by Sydney-based MKD Architects, will boast a tower emerging from a three-storey podium fronting George Street and include a ground-floor bar, café and possibly a pool.

Aerobridges cleared for take off

Gold Coast Airport is set for the next stage of its $370 million expansion, with the development of aerobridges linking to a new three-level terminal set to move forward in coming months.

According to the Urban Developer, the airport’s stage one contractor, Lendlease, has been appointed to deliver the construction of the 30,000sq m building, four new aerobridges and new retail areas as part of the southern terminal expansion.

The contract value is reportedly worth some $200 million and the finished redevelopment will more than double the floor area of the existing terminal.