AC Hotel by Marriott Melbourne Southbank general manager Harry Singh was jubilant about the official opening of the hotel last week.

The weather Gods were kind too, so Singh proceeded with the celebrations showing off the hotel’s glorious Melbourne views and location to over 250 guests.

In keeping with the Spanish heritage of the AC brand, the hotel celebrated with a strong Spanish theme in the music and food and beverage service. It was tapas galore and Hispanic string strumming.

For Singh it was a day of enormous personal pride as he’s been with Marriott his whole career.

“It’s a really proud moment for me. This is my 21st year with Marriott – since my first job straight out of hospitality school, I’ve been with Marriott.

“It’s a really, really proud moment,” he told micenet.

His first encounter with AC hotels was in Spain in 2008. This is where the brand has its origins and cool design influence.

“I happened to stay in a few AC properties back then when these hotels weren’t part of Marriott – what’s amazing is 14 years later, I get to open the first AC hotel in Australia and it’s part of Marriott as well. So, it was it was an amazing feeling to open the new AC in Melbourne,” he said.

Sean Hunt, Marriott International’s area vice president for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific said he too was thrilled to celebrate the arrival of the AC Hotels brand in Australia.

“It marks the 14th brand entry within Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio in Australia,” Hunt said.

It’s also Marriott’s third new opening in Melbourne in the past 12 months.

With the opening of the 205-room hotel, the business events sector has another high-quality location for hosting events.

There is 576m2 of flexible meeting space with lots of natural light in addition to an outdoor covered terrace room and a pool bar. The outdoor terrace beside the infinity pool, which spans the width of the building, can be used as a pre-function space for up to 200 guests. The hotel also has a 24-hour fitness centre.

Singh has hand-picked his opening team – a team he encourages to have fun and infuse the hotel with personality and spirit.

“I’ve got some really good team members. A lot of them I’ve worked with previously in some of my other hotels.

“There are some really cool personalities. I really want the hotel to have a casual and relaxed atmosphere. And I want the team to have fun. Each one is a character and I’d like that to show through in their work,” he said.

Occupancy for May is beginning to look very promising Singh says, with a number of sold-out days. Referrals are already coming through from Melbourne Convention Bureau and Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. He also expects the large automotive and pharmaceutical companies located in the precinct will generate strong ongoing business for the new hotel.

The owners, Capital Alliance, were at the opening event.

“We are thrilled to launch the new AC Hotel By Marriott,” said Mohan Du, founder and managing director of Capital Alliance.

“We are looking forward to seeing guests and locals begin to experience the first AC Hotel by Marriott in Australia.”

Fishermans Bend is Australia’s largest urban renewal project, covering 480 hectares that will be home to 80,000 people and 80,000 jobs by 2050. A new plan to build a centre of high-value industries and jobs at Fishermans Bend unveiled today positions Victoria at the forefront of global advanced manufacturing, engineering and design innovation.

Minister for Business Precincts Martin Pakula today launched the Advancing Manufacturing – the Fishermans Bend opportunity statement which, supported by major investments and planning approvals, will work to attract key investors and major partners like the University of Melbourne to build on Victoria’s industrial excellence.

The first priority is to bring to life the heart of the Fishermans Bend Innovation Precinct – the former General Motors Holden site on Salmon Street. Investment is flowing to transform this critical site, with the first stage of redevelopment backed by a $179.4 million investment in the Victorian Budget 2021/22. Stage 1, being delivered by Development Victoria, will include remediation of the 32-hectare site and the installation of crucial infrastructure and services to support an investment-ready precinct.

The University of Melbourne will be one of the precincts’ next major tenants, with Minister for Planning Richard Wynne today approving the proposal for a new Engineering and Design innovation campus.

Set to open in 2025, the campus will feature world-class heavy engineering and large fabrication testing and prototyping facilities, purpose-built for the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology and the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning.

With global firms including Boeing and Siemens already established in Fishermans Bend, the Fishermans Bend NEIC is expected to be home to at least 40,000 jobs and over 20,000 students by 2050 across key industries including aerospace, transport, defence, creative industries and clean energy.

The Australian city of Melbourne is eagerly awaiting the completion of the hotel, which is set to open in the middle of 2021. It represents a key part of the AU$200 million Normanby development in Fisherman’s Bend, which will feature 200 AC Hotel rooms and 100 apartments.

Mohan Du, founder and chief executive of Capital Alliance, added: “Not only are we bringing the first AC Hotels by Marriott to Australia, but this will be the first hotel in the entire precinct. This appointment strengthens our view that although economic fundamentals have drastically changed for the industry, there is still life for projects that are carefully thought through.”

The 40-storey tower, set to feature 200 AC by Marriott hotel rooms and 100 one, two, and three-bedroom apartments delivered to the former industrial precinct.

Construction works commence on site this month and Capital Alliance chief executive Mohan Du is expecting the development to be completed by early 2021.

The project marks the first AC Hotels by Marriott in Australia, as well as the first hotel in the Fishermans Bend precinct.

Capital Alliance has appointed Crema Group to build the 40-storey mixed-use Normanby Melbourne tower, located at 199-201 Normanby Road, Southbank – at the “city end” of Fishermans Bend, near South Wharf.

The proposed tower will stare down the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and Yarra River. The site is a short walk to Mirvac’s pocket of Docklands, Yarra’s Edge.

Just across the Yarra River in Fishermans Bend, local developer Capital Alliance has appointed Crema Constructions, as the builder of its $200 million mixed-use project, Normanby Melbourne at 199 Normanby Road.

Normanby Melbourne will include a 200-room AC Hotels by Marriott.

The University of Melbourne has purchased land at Fishermans Bend to establish a new campus and expand the Melbourne School of Engineering at the heart of Australia's new precinct for engineering and design.

Set to open in the early 2020s, the new campus will enable engineering and IT students and academics to connect and collaborate with leading local and international organisations, across the transport, energy, manufacturing, water, food, mining, defense, and infrastructure sectors. With increased partnerships between education and industry, we will be able to reverse the brain drain by keeping our brightest minds right here in Victoria and attracting the best talent from around the world.

Fishermans Bend will consist of five precincts across two municipalities – the City of Melbourne and the City of Port Phillip – and connect Melbourne's CBD to the bay. It is expected that by 2050, it will be home to approximately 80,000 residents and provide employment for up to 80,000 people.

Target for 2050 includes:

-80% of trips are made via sustainable transport

-90% of school related trips are made via sustainable transport

-A walkability score of 90% is achieved from homes and workplaces

-Fishermans Bend is a diverse community, including a mix of income, age, education levels and backgrounds

-People can access public open space within 200 metres of their home

Capital Alliance has amended a permit for a site it purchased in Melbourne's Fishermans Bend and will include the country's first AC Hotels by Marriott upmarket leisure brand of hotel in the urban regeneration precinct.

The private developer last week received an amended permit for the 199-201 Normanby Road site it purchased with scheme in place last year and in the same week signed an operating agreement with US-based Marriott International to bring the AC Hotels brand to Australia.

"It's really exciting, new to Fishermans Bend and we like to think this is what the precinct needs," Capital Alliance founder and chief executive Mohan Du told The Australian Financial Review on Monday.

​​South Melbourne Primary School is a new state-of-the-art Prep to Year 6 primary school located on Ferrars Street. The school opened in 2018.

It is the first vertical government school in Victoria, and will accommodate more than 525 students.

Architects have created space and facilities that the community can share so that the school is fully embedded in neighbourhood life.

The school won ‘Future Project of the Year’ at the 2016 World Architecture Festival Awards held in Berlin

The 8000 square metre Montague Park is equivalent to two and half times the size of Melbourne’s City Square and is diagonally opposite the new South Melbourne Ferrars Street primary school under construction.

The new park is a key part of the Ferrars Street Education and Community Precinct, a catalyst project for Fishermans Bend that provides more public space, community services and facilities for the growing community.