Chief Minister Andrew Barr has met with several high-end international hotel groups in a bid to lure the firms to build major new hotels on several prominent Canberra sites.
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During a recent trip to Hong Kong, Mr Barr met with representatives of Shangri-La Hotels and Marriott Hotels, the largest hotel group in the world, and has been 'actively seeking' a meeting with Hilton Hotels.
![Chief Minister Andrew Barr says the National Archives building [East Block] could be an attractive investment for a boutique hotel. Photo: Jamila Toderas](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/19979729-b71d-4f8a-8b4b-56f8955c66f0/r0_0_2000_1333_w576_h298_fmax.webp "Chief Minister Andrew Barr says the National Archives building [East Block] could be an attractive investment for a boutique hotel. Photo: Jamila Toderas")
He has also had discussions with Accor Group, which already have Mercure and Novotel hotels in Canberra, in an effort to attract that group to build a Sofitel in the capital.
Mr Barr said the aim was to attract high-end international hotel chains to capitalise on growing direct international flights to and from the ACT.
A 52-page prospectus the government provided Hong Kong investors shows a raft of valuable land sites the government will offer to market in the next three years, most of which are within the City Renewal Authority's special planning zone.
Among the sites the government is offering up for mixed use hotel developers were three large blocks in Lyneham, Braddon and Turner on Northbourne Avenue and the 53,000sqmt site former Red Hill public housing blocks.
Other sites in the prospectus included a 17,250sqmt block in Lyons on the corner of Melrose and Hindmarsh drives; a 22,500sqmt site on Light Street near Manuka shops; seven blocks on Kingston Foreshore and a 57 hectare site at East Lakes.
The government is also pushing the last available commercially-zoned block in Gungahlin, and blocks of land that form part of the City to the Lake development proposal, which could house up to 6000 people.
Mr Barr also said that some investors had also expressed interest in "adaptive re-use" of Commonwealth-owned buildings in the Parliamentary Triangle.
The federal government is currently trying to sell off East and West Block in the Triangle and the Anzac Park buildings on Lake Burley-Griffin, despite concerns raised by heritage groups and the federal Opposition.
Mr Barr said while it was not his job to sell Commonwealth assets, he expected some interest in the heritage-listed buildings from boutique hotel chains.
A spokesman for Mr Barr said while hotel groups had shown 'a positive interest in the prospectus and Canberra in general', none had yet indicated an interest in specific sites.
