The Brighton at Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach to open 2025

The owners of a beachfront development in southern Sydney have broken their silence on the future of the secretive site, after the initial opening date blew out.

The Brighton has been under construction for more than a year along the Grand Parade in Brighton-Le-Sands. Picture: Elizabeth Pike

The owners of a multimillion-dollar beachfront development in southern Sydney have broken their silence on the future of the secretive site, after the initial opening date blew out.

It comes more than a year after 100m of oceanfront property, overlooking Botany Bay, was boarded up underneath the Brighton-Le-Sands Novotel, with colourful signage promising a venue named ‘The Brighton’ would be ‘Coming 2023’.

With the slated opening date well and truly passed, the future of the site was a mystery among locals, shop owners and Novotel staff unsure if the venue would ever open its doors.

Now the hospitality conglomerate in charge of the project, Oscars Group, has revealed to this masthead that the venue will be phased open in 2025 after trade and supply issues affected construction.

“The Brighton is a significant development nearing the final stages of its transformation of the famed Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach and Bayside Plaza,” an Oscars Group spokesperson said.

The Brighton is located within the Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach and faces Botany Bay and Bay St. Picture: Elizabeth Pike

“We are committed to delivering a world-class entertainment destination in 2025 featuring multiple restaurants and bars, including the recently opened Ammos Brighton.

“Like other projects across the country, the refurbishment has been impacted by trade and supply challenges which have affected our original timelines, however we look forward to continuing our phased opening in the coming months.”

The site originally housed the Baygarden Restaurant and Coco’s on the Beach bar before both venues were closed in June 2023 to make way for the renovations.

Plans lodged for the Novotel site detailed a $15.5 million upgrade of the hotel precinct, spearheaded by a refurbishment of the retail levels.

Oscars Group did not release details about the “multiple” businesses expected to make up the new retail area, however, local restaurateur Mohammed said he expected big things given the long wait.

“The renovation has been very slow, I see people working on it … but it’s been [under construction] for a very long time,” Mohammed said.

“It’s all for the Novotel … but many people don’t know anything about it, they (the owners) don’t say much, they have kept it very secret, and their social media pages don’t have much on them.

The Brighton is expected to consist of multiple restaurants and bars, in a major facelift for the southern Sydney business hub. Picture: Elizabeth Pike

'Coming 2023' signs are still on display at the site. Picture: Elizabeth Pike

“Something good is going to open though, something fancy. They have invested a lot of time and money into it.”

According to Oscars Group, the first phase of the reopening is likely to go ahead at the start of 2025, just in time for summer, with more details to be released as the project nears completion.