Melbourne's New Developments

Melbourne continues to renew and expand, and ongoing developments in the CBD enhance the city's international reputation as a leading Business Events destination. Melbourne's latest projects include hotel developments, world-class arts and sporting facilities, exciting new retail concepts and state-of-the-art transport infrastructure.

Hotel Developments

Melbourne is ranked as a world-class convention city. It offers delegates plentiful and diverse accommodation choices, with more than 16,250 rooms in the City of Melbourne alone. The ongoing redevelopment and construction of new hotels ensures Melbourne retains this status.

The Sheraton has announced that it will open its doors in Melbourne in 2013. The 168-room new full service Sheraton Melbourne will be part of a development combining the hotel with upmarket residences and boutique retail on the site of Melbourne's Naval and Military Club on Little Collins Street.

Sheraton Melbourne Hotel will feature all-day dining and specialty restaurants, a coffee and cocktail lobby lounge and bar, fitness facilities and spa, business centre and meeting and function spaces.

Early in 2011, the Grand Hyatt Melbourne concluded its four year refurbishment project. The first stage of the transformation of the hotel was launched in 2008 with the reopening of new public spaces, including upper and lower lobbies, a luxury retail precinct, The Collins Kitchen restaurant and bar RU-CO - a project phase that totaled $45 million.

In early 2009, the hotel's premium events venue was unveiled. The residence is modelled on a private mansion concept and is the first of its kind in Australia. It is made up of the Wine Room, the Library, the Verandah Room and the Courtyard - all serviced by the open kitchen - and offers personalised service for conferences, small dinners, cocktail parties, weddings and product launches. The final phase of the Grand Hyatt refurbishment commenced in late 2009 with the redesign of guest rooms.

Sporting Facilities

Work is underway on the $363 million redevelopment of Melbourne Park. The project is the first stage of a Victorian State Government-funded master plan to further develop Melbourne and Olympic Parks and is designed to secure the future of the Australian Open Tennis Championships in Melbourne.

This major upgrade is scheduled to be completed in 2015 and includes the installation of a retractable roof and additional seating to increase crowd capacity to 7,500 at the Margaret Court Arena. Eight additional indoor and 13 new outdoor tennis courts will be built, as well as warm-up and warm-down facilities for athletes. Visitors will enjoy an elevated plaza providing new public space and a new eastern entry to Hisense Arena, a new landscaped entrance to Melbourne Park on Olympic Boulevard and 1,000 new cars spaces. A footbridge will complete a direct pedestrian link between the MCG, Melbourne Park and AAMI Park.

Cultural Capital

The $128.5 million major overhaul of the Arts Centre's main concert venue, Hamer Hall, is well underway. The two year redevelopment project, scheduled for completion in mid-2012, will provide a better experience for audiences and performers and open up the Arts Centre Precinct to Southbank and the Yarra River.

Visitors will enjoy better access from Southbank and St Kilda Road, as well as throughout the building, a greater choice of food and beverage options, improved acoustics, lighting, staging and seating in the Hall itself and improved visitor amenities. Improvements to the back of house and staging will also mean that Hamer Hall will be able to accommodate a wider range of world-class performances, giving audiences even more options for a great night out. The project will also include sustainable power generation and waste and water management.

The Hamer Hall project is the first stage of the Southbank Cultural Precinct Redevelopment, the Victorian Government's long term vision to reinvigorate Melbourne's 'cultural hub' from Hamer Hall to Sturt Street.

Luxury Retail

Crown continues to build on its luxury brand retail offering with the Louis Vuitton store finishing a major facelift and upgrade in October 2010. The refurbished store includes the first private salon in Melbourne.

Designed by the Louis Vuitton projects team in Paris, this store will dazzle visitors with a striking illuminated glass façade incorporating the iconic Monogram flower pattern and large display windows.

The refurbishment demonstrates Louis Vuitton's confidence in the market and the Melbourne customer's appreciation of its quality and craftsmanship. With over 300m of floor space and luxurious finishes, the store is a sophisticated arena for the latest product offerings, including luggage, leather goods, watches, shoes, accessories, writing instruments and textiles.

International Access

Each year, 27 million passengers pass through Melbourne Airport. The second stage of the airport's $330 million international terminal expansion project - scheduled for late 2011 - will add more than 5,000m of new passenger lounges, cafés, duty free and specialty shopping spaces to the international terminal (T2). This will enable the airport to meet increased passenger growth and service next generation aircraft, including the A380.

The biggest upgrade the airport has seen since it was built in the late 1960s, this expansion is one of Victoria's largest-ever private infrastructure projects. It includes a new state-of-the-art baggage system, enhanced energy efficiencies and multi-lingual way finding signage, PA announcements and visitor guides.

In anticipation of perceived continuing growth, Melbourne Airport is looking at accelerating future phases of expanding capacity.