Over the last few years Greater Melbourne has experienced a marked increase in the number of residential hotel approvals leading to a number of completed projects and many still under construction. Human Habitats has played a pivotal role in many recent residential hotel approvals and active applications across Melbourne. These exciting projects include:

• Tribe Hotel’s first venture in Melbourne, located in Collingwood;
• A 180-room hotel located within a mixed use building at 700 Collins Street, Docklands
• A boutique seven-storey hotel in South Yarra for Ovolo Hotels;
• A fourteen-storey hotel within central Footscray;
• Two landmark hotels in Melbourne’s booming west in Tarneit and Truganina;
• A hotel within the Monash Employment Cluster in Mulgrave; and
• Refurbishment works across the Bell City complex in Preston.

All of these projects lay outside of the CBD, the traditional location for residential hotels and short-term accommodation in Melbourne. Some of these projects have transitioned from conventional residential development to residential hotels and/or serviced accommodation offerings. This shows a growing confidence decentralised hotel development and correlates with the increase in leasable office development in suburban centres across Melbourne.

The provision of short-term accommodation is fundamental to thriving serviced-based employment precincts, enhancing business amenity and benefiting the local economy by encouraging local spending. The increase in short term accommodation options across Melbourne also indicates an increase in tourism and interstate/international business visitation to areas outside of the CBD. This has been supported by significant investment in infrastructure and operation of the various internationally significant business/conference, cultural and sporting events the city hosts such as the Australian Open, Grand Prix, Spring Racing Carnival and AFL Grand Final. Melbourne is home to Australia’s largest racecourse,  several world-class stadiums, and a plethora of world-class sporting and event facilities and as such, the city’s tourism and events industry is showing no signs of slowing down.

Human Habitats is proud to be involved in the emergence of residential hotel and serviced accommodation options across Greater Melbourne and identifies this as an indication of confidence in Melbourne’s growing tourism, events, office and services sectors.