Sultan plans six-star hotel
The Courier Mail, 27/05/2007
One of the world’s richest men is considering building an opulent “six-star” 50-story hotel overlooking Brisbane’s City Botanic Gardens.
Plans for the futuristic hotel are on a central business district site owned by the billionaire, Sultan of Brunei.
The Sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, is considering demolishing the 10-storey Royal On The Park Hotel on the corner of Alice and Albert streets to make way for the new development.
The Sultan has owned the 7000sq m site for more than a decade.
The proposed project, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, is directly opposite the site for another proposed $425 million, “six star” 50-storey hotel under consideration by Devine developers.
Industry sources say the Sultan, the ruler of a tiny oil-soaked nation who is known for his extravagant behaviour, may not have liked the idea of a more opulent hotel facing his own project.
Brisbane architect Bevan Lynch is overseeing both projects and said the luxury hotel was in the early planning stages.
The Sultan has a personal collection of more than 5000 luxury cars. He owns the Dorchester Hotel in London, the Beverly Hills Hotel in LA and the Palace Hotel in New York
Written by: Edmund Bourke
