All quiet on the Waterfront as $200 million six-star luxury hotel work slows

MARRIOTT International has confirmed that its luxury Westin Hotel planned for the Darwin Waterfront will now not be finished until sometime in 2023 — at least a year later than expected.

MARRIOTT International has confirmed that its luxury Westin Hotel planned for the Darwin Waterfront will now not be finished until sometime in 2023 — at least a year later than expected.

Confirmation of the delay comes after an NT News investigation revealed work at the site had slowed in recent months.

The hotel, which will have 201 rooms, was originally expected to open in 2022.

Design plans released by the developer Chinese-owned Landbridge in 2018 outlined that the Westin-run hotel would offer 237 rooms across its eight levels.

But changes to stages three and four of the hotel’s development plan has resulted in 201 rooms — not 237 as previously outlined.

A spokesman for the company told the NT News said the Waterfront hotel was definitely proceeding.

However the spokesman could not say which part of 2023 the work was expected to be completed.

“Yes the hotel is definitely proceeding and we expect it to be completed sometime in 2023,” the spokesman said.

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EARLIER STORY

CONSTRUCTION at Darwin’s $200 million six-star luxury Westin hotel site has slowed and its developer will not say if it can meet the proposed opening date of 2022.

An NT News investigation can reveal minimal work has been undertaken at the Waterfront site since construction began 11 months ago.

On Monday, several pieces of machinery and building materials were sitting idle.

The NT News also visited the site at 9am on Sunday when the site was closed off completely and no work was being undertaken.

A photo taken of the site on December 1 – more than two months ago – shows almost nothing has changed since then. The first stage of construction was flagged as employing 35 people.

A picture of the site taken by the NT News on December 1

An aerial view of the largely bare Darwin Westin luxury hotel construction site at the Waterfront on Monday

A spokeswoman for Landbridge, which is building the hotel, would not answer the NT News’ questions as to whether the completion date for the hotel had been pushed back beyond mid-2022 or if the project had been delayed.

In a statement, they said: “Road works to widen Anchorage Court to enable singular access to the cruise ship terminal were carried out last year. The remainder of the early works are expected to be completed before the middle of the year.

“The loop road will be closed for the duration of the entire project, as has been flagged in project documentation.

“In parallel, work on the offsite prototype hotel room with Darwin-based M&J Builders is proceeding well and is expected to be completed shortly.”

An aerial image of the Darwin luxury hotel site at the Waterfront around midday on Monday

They added: “The Westin Darwin luxury hotel will bolster Darwin’s reputation as an exciting travel destination and attraction for both locals and visitors, with a skywalk offering public access to the hotel’s rooftop restaurant, bar, pool and spa.”

There has been speculation within industry for several months that the project has been slowed down until the Territory economy shows signs of recovery.

A Territory Government spokesman said last night the project was proceeding but did not answer a specific question surrounding delays during Stage 1 of construction.

“Landbridge have advised the hotel is on schedule,” the spokesman said.

Idle machinery at the work site

Signs at the construction site

Machinery at the construction site was not operating

McMahon Services, which was unavailable for comment on Monday, is undertaking the Stage 1 construction work on the project.

The Territory Government, under former chief minister Adam Giles, and Landbridge first signed a heads of agreement to develop the hotel in August 2016.

At the time, it was expected construction would start in 2017 and the hotel would open in 2020.

In March last year, Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler announced a “major milestone” at the site with “roadworks” commencing.

“As part of the first stage, Anchorage Court will be widened to ensure the cruise ship terminal continues to operate safely throughout the construction period.

“Other elements include a sea wall and foreshore access footpath, diversions and relocation of services, a new headwall and associated drainage,” Ms Lawler said at the time.

The hotel has been slated to open in 2022, creating 500 jobs during construction and a further 150 jobs when it opens.

The Territory Government committed $17 million to the project for public infrastructure, including a skywalk to link the Waterfront to the CBD.

Landbridge was gifted 2.9ha of land for the project.

Master Builders NT chief executive Dave Malone said the hotel was “absolutely crucial to the level of business confidence it might generate across the community”.

He had not been made aware the project was either progressing to its deadline, nor whether it was behind schedule.

“What this economy needs is private investment going, so projects like the hotel, they’re really pivotal,” Mr Malone said. “... people in every street in every suburb across Darwin will benefit from it.”

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Chamber of Commerce NT CEO Greg Bicknell had not been told of any delays and said the hotel was “an important project as far as repositioning Darwin’s tourism offerings goes”.

“It’s something at the upper-end of the market that will be useful if we’re to do a couple of things,” he said.

“One is to have home berthing of cruise ships here, which is something we’ve looked at as an economic driver. That would be an economic advantage.”

Marriott International Group, which owns Westin, could not comment on Monday.