Once part of the City of Richmond, it has lacked short-term accommodation, being mostly a light industrial area. However, now Cremorne has glass office towers where factories and warehouses once stood and demand for both accommodation and meeting space has seen a flurry of hotel applications.
The suburb’s appeal is its proximity to the city, its location bounded by the Yarra River, Punt Road, Swan Street and Church Street, plus it is well serviced by trams, trains and bike paths. It has attracted sufficient technology and creative businesses to the area to be dubbed “Silicon Yarra”.
As things stand, at least five hotels have been approved for Cremorne and are at various stages of development.
The latest proposal won ministerial approval last week for a nine storey, 89-room hotel with event space for 180 by the Zig Inge Group. This development is next door to Cremorne’s popular watering hole, The Cherry Tree Hotel.
Meanwhile, the Accor Ennismore joint venture is opening an iteration of its global brand, The Hoxton, at 550 Church Street in Cremorne. There are 18 properties under the Hoxton brand across nine countries – the Cremorne hotel will be the brand’s debut in Australia.
Described as a neighbourhood brand, The Hoxton will be an anchor tenant rising above the former 9,700m2 Bryant & May match factory, which is undergoing a $600 million makeover to transform into a mixed-use business village.
A 12-storey hotel of 114 rooms planned for 14-18 Cremorne Street has also completed its planning and appeals process.
Close to the Melbourne Park sports precinct, another boutique hotel, Future Estate Hotel and Wellness Centre, has been approved for development at 375 Punt Road, however an amendment has been filed with the City of Yarra to reduce the room count to 31 rooms and include a multi-level wellness centre with pools and saunas.
Further along Punt Road is 381 Cremorne, an existing hotel that offers one, two and three-bedroom options plus penthouse accommodation.
For developers looking for opportunities to invest in Cremorne, there’s currently an approved hotel development site available for sale at 1-3 Harcourt Parade.
