Gold Coast development: Work to begin on Millennial Gen Y hotel in Southport in big tourism offering

CONSTRUCTION is about to begin on the Gold Coast’s newest hotel which will be a ‘millennial style Gen Y funky’ tower for young people. And it’s just the start of a billion dollar complex which will become home to the southern hemisphere’s tallest tower.

A LONG-TIME Gold Coast developer is targeting the fickle attention of 20-somethings as party of a $1 billion Queensland-first pitch.

Robert Badalotti’s 18-storey hotel tower in Southport will cater exclusively to Millennials.

Think outdoor cinemas, rooftop bars, “superfast” Wi-Fi, and the ability to use smartphones to access both rooms and lifts.

Artist impression of the Tryp hotel

Mr Badalotti’s Azzura Investments will break ground early next year on The Tryp Hotel, on the corner of Southport’s Meron Street and Gillian Lane. It will be the first stage of what is expected to be one of the largest developments ever conceived for the city – Imperial Square.

The centrepiece of the completed project will be the Southern Hemisphere’s tallest tower, at 108 storeys.

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The complete development, featuring a 108-storey tower.

Mr Badalotti decided to focus on the highly lucrative youth market, with research showing that Millennials will make up 50 per cent of all worldwide hotel bookings by 2020.

Destination Gold Coast chief executive Annaliese Battista said the project represented a new step in the city’s growth.

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How its hotel room will look.

“This shows the evolution of the tourism sector and shows that we can cater for niche markets – we have the critical mass for that now,” she said.

“Our product and tourism operators are getting more sophisticated about who they target.

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The hotel is targeted at Millennials.

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“I welcome this and it reminds me of the art hotels and what they offer. It is nice and the sort of thing we need to welcome here on the Coast.”

Millennials, also commonly known as Generation Y, are people born from the early 1980s through until the mid-1990s.

Experienced hotel operator Wyndam has been appointed to run the complex once it is completed.

The giant towers will come in the second and third stages of the project.

The Tryp tower will feature the 252-room hotel on its top five floors. The bottom floors include a 346-room student accommodation and education complex.

The tower will also feature a 2500sq m integrated hospitality school in its lower levels.

The site of the project has already been cleared and fences have been erected, with work set to begin after Azzura completes work on its $130 million Mercato on Byron shopping centre in northern NSW.

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Once completed, Imperial Square will be the southern hemisphere’s tallest tower.

The Gold Coast’s building community has welcomed the project in the wake of troubles surrounding the $1 billion Jewel development in Surfers Paradise and uncertainty around the $1.2 billion Spirit tower.

“No doubt this would be good for builders and if there is a clear scope of works for people to get into, a project of this size would be easy to knock out,” said Queensland Master Builders Association regional manager John Duncalfe.

“If it is targeted at a specific market they would have done their homework on what is needed and basically you will find it can be done quite easily.”

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Work will begin next year.