Perth CBD office building to become 103-room Holiday Inn Express

IHG Hotels and Resorts and development partner SKS Group confirmed on 27 October a Holiday Inn Express conversion of the former Singapore Airlines House at 178 St Georges Terrace in the Perth CBD, taking the pair’s combined Perth hotel pipeline to 273 rooms across two sites.

Why it matters

The deal adds a 103-room Holiday Inn Express Perth City Centre to IHG’s Western Australian portfolio, built through adaptive reuse of an existing office building rather than new construction. It follows SKS Group’s earlier signing of the 170-room Holiday Inn Express Cockburn, due to open in December. For CBD office owners, it is another sign that hotel operators will take on existing office buildings as conversion stock. The signing ceremony was held at InterContinental Perth City Centre and attended by City of Perth Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds. The partnership also extends to Malaysia, where SKS Group owns the Holiday Inn Johor Bahru City Centre.

Hotel Management says the location puts guests close to the main corporate offices, Elizabeth Quay and the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, pitching the hotel at business and leisure travellers.

Cameron Burke, IHG’s director of development for Australasia and the Pacific, said Perth continues to be one of Australia’s most compelling hotel markets. He said adaptive reuse projects are becoming an increasingly attractive proposition for developers, as developers look to unlock latent value in established urban locations. Eugene Lim, director and chief financial officer of SKS Group, said the group sees significant long-term opportunity in Perth’s hotel sector. He called the project an important step in expanding SKS Group’s hospitality portfolio with IHG in Australia. It comes as Perth’s wider accommodation and build-to-rent pipeline continues to grow; AusDev has reported about 1,100 homes are moving through 14 build-to-rent projects across the city.

The numbers

The new CBD hotel will have 103 rooms. It joins the 170-room Holiday Inn Express Cockburn already committed by SKS Group, taking the two projects to a combined 273 rooms across Perth. No construction cost, acquisition price or opening date for the CBD hotel was disclosed in the announcement. The hotel will be fitted out to IHG’s Generation 5 design standard, with an Express Café and Bar, one meeting room and an on-site gym.

Matt Tripolone, IHG’s managing director for Australasia and the Pacific, said “Perth remains an important growth market for IHG.” He pointed to strong corporate demand and the city’s growing appeal as a leisure destination. He said Holiday Inn Express pairs an efficient operating model with IHG’s global distribution and its IHG One Rewards loyalty programme. The Cockburn property and the CBD conversion are the pair’s only announced Perth hotels.

What’s next

IHG and SKS Group did not disclose a fit-out timeline or opening date for the St Georges Terrace conversion. The Cockburn property is slated to open in December, which will be the first of the two SKS Group-partnered hotels to come online. IHG’s development team has flagged adaptive reuse as an increasingly attractive route for developers. The next marker is whether other CBD office owners take the same office-to-hotel path.