‘King of Adelaide' unveils $60m Adelaide Holiday Inn
Prolific Melbourne developer Ross Pelligra has added another hotel to his family’s burgeoning hospitality portfolio, after unveiling plans, alongside accommodation giant IHG, to open a $60 million-plus Holiday Inn & Suites in Adelaide’s northern suburbs in 2024.
Mr Pelligra who has been dubbed the “development king of Adelaide” because of Pelligra Group’s numerous projects across the city, including a $200 million business park at the former Holden manufacturing site in Elizabeth South said he had “huge confidence in the future of hotels in Australia”.
The 130-room Holiday Inn to be built at 1-3 Metro Parade in Mawson Lakes – across the road from the University of Adelaide’s Mawson Lakes campus – is the sixth hotel agreement between Pelligra Group and IHG Hotels & Resorts, and the 14th in the developer’s diversified portfolio.
“The hotel market is one where we see a lot of improvement and upside,” Mr Pelligra told The Australian Financial Review.
“We take a long-term investment view on these assets, which may be 10,20 or up to 30 years,” he said.
“We would love to add another 20-30 hotels across IHG’s brand portfolio in the future, so I can only say: get ready for more to come,” Mr Pelligra said.
The Holiday Inn & Suites Mawson Lakes – a joint venture with local builder and investor Bruno Muscatello – will include a restaurant and lobby bar, conferencing facilities and gymnasium.
The suites within the hotel will offer self-catering accommodation for those seeking longer stays.
Kenneth Macpherson, IHG’s CEO for, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa who attended Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony alongside SA Premier Peter Malinauskas and Mr Pelligra, said Australia was a “key market” for the London-based group.
“We’ll open nine hotels in Australia this year and 12 across Australasia,” Mr Macpherson said.
Leanne Harwood, IHG’s managing director for Japan, Australasia and Pacific, said investors remained confident about the hotel sector, with preference for “new builds in new markets”.
“Offshore capital is seeking opportunities in our market. It’s not just Ross [Pelligra], but groups like Pro-invest, Salter Brothers and others. Everyone we talk is looking for future opportunities,” Ms Harwood said.
Mr Pelligra said his group’s focus was on developing “fun and vibrant hotels” that will appeal to the fourth generation of the family, that will be the next owners of the these assets.
Ahead of the opening of the Holiday Inn at Mawson Lakes, Pelligra Group will open a new 150-room Holiday Inn in Richmond in inner Melbourne this year.
Also opening this year is the refurbished former Ramada Encore Hotel in Dandenong in the city’s south-east, which Pelligra purchased last year and the former Rydges Hotel in Carlton, which is being transformed into a Crowne Plaza hotel.
