Greaton’s Westin hotel at GPO site delayed again

A $200m revival of the historic GPO building, including a new luxury Westin hotel, is facing another lengthy delay.

An artist impression of the new Westin hotel on the Adelaide GPO site.

The revival of one of Adelaide’s landmark heritage buildings has been thrown into doubt following a major delay to a $200m luxury hotel development in the heart of the city.

Developer Greaton has applied for an extension to its deadline to start work on a new Westin hotel at the GPO site on King William Street, more than a year after construction was initially expected to commence.

According to documents lodged with the State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP), Greaton is seeking an extra two years to start work on stage one of the project, comprising the development of a 15-storey, 285-room hotel at the northern end of the site.

The company wants five years to complete the hotel before it commences work on a second stage involving a major revamp of the State Heritage-listed GPO building.

However the second stage, which would create a new retail and hospitality precinct within the historic building, would only begin once “economic conditions improve”, according to Greaton’s application with the SCAP.

Greaton managing director Nicho Teng and other local representatives of the company have not returned calls.

Marriott International hotel development senior director Richard Crawford said the company, which operates the Westin brand, remained “100 per cent committed to this exciting project”.

“Many hotel projects in Australia are experiencing delays at this is time, however we anticipate that a first class hotel will be delivered by Greaton at the landmark site,” he said.

“This will be our inaugural foothold in Adelaide, a city that we have great confidence in, and this is the finest opportunity for a new five star hotel which is what the city needs.”

The GPO has remained vacant since October 2019, when the post office services relocated to a nearby outlet in the $250m GPO Exchange office tower.

The move came 147 years after the GPO moved into the historic building, which was designed by local architects Edmund Wright and Edward Woods in 1866.

According to the State Heritage register, the building is one of South Australia’s “most important public buildings”.

Adelaide City councillor Anne Moran urged the SCAP to reject Greaton’s application for an extension.

“The proposal was very nice and I was happy to support it but we’ve suffered from this a lot as a city, with developers sitting and sitting and citing financial circumstances,” she said.

“I don’t think SCAP should reward them with another roll-over with the hope of them one day doing something - that could act as a lever to hurry them up.

“This is one of our central buildings, like Edmund Wright House, and the state government should step in and lease it at some low rent or they could even hand it over to us and we can put in some offices.

“Otherwise you could stick the poor homeless in there - open it up for someone like St Vincent de Paul or the Hutt St Centre for a few years.”

Artist’s impression of Westin hotel development at the GPO site

Greaton unveiled its vision for the site in 2018, with Mr Teng spruiking the hotel plans as bringing the “height of luxury” to Adelaide.

“This will be a true hotel and not mixed use. I am proud of South Australia and my contribution here and this will go ahead,” he said at the time.

Since then major hotel developments worth close to $1 billion have been thrown into doubt amid the COVID-19 crisis, as developers face ongoing uncertainty around the future of domestic and international travel.

A survey of the Adelaide City Council’s development register last year revealed developers of the $180m SIXTY2CURRIE tower on Currie Street and the $48m Travelodge project on Bentham Street had secured extensions to their development approvals since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Construction of four other hotels including the $40m Vibe project on Flinders Street and the $35m TRYP by Wyndham on Pulteney Street were expected to start last year but have yet to break ground.

And developers behind a new $160m Hyatt hotel on Pirie Street confirmed last year that the COVID-19 crisis had forced construction to slip from its planned start date this year.

Greaton is currently overseeing plans for a 16-storey apartment building at the former Balfours site on Franklin Street.

The Adelaide-based developer was last month forced to appoint new builders at its flagship $700m Ribbon project in Sydney’s Darling Harbour following the collapse of several entities operated by construction giant Grocon.

The historic GPO building will remain vacant for years following more delays to a $200m hotel development. Picture SARAH REED