July 16, 2021 | By Graeme Kemlo
Aitken Hill, a purpose-built conference centre 10 minutes from Melbourne Airport, has been placed into administration.
PwC Australia was called in as receivers last week by a Chinese-owned investment company which is part of China’s HNA Group. It is understood the property had not been operating and had been on the market for some time.
It comprises a 124-room hotel with capacity for 248 delegates and boasted 6000m2 of meeting space across a range of conference rooms, syndicate spaces and dining rooms.
Aitken Hill sits on 69 hectares of land and was built in the 1990s by mining giant BHP as a global leadership centre and was regarded as a state-of-the-art facility. It was rich with resources for delegates, from a 25m indoor pool, spa, saunas, gym and extensive outdoor team building facilities. There’s also a six-hole golf course.
It is believed to have last sold in 2016 for about $100 million and has been on the market for a couple of years.
PwC said the property, 30 km north-west of the CBD was in a growth corridor for Melbourne but it was unlikely that the conferencing business would be recommenced before any sale of the property.