1988: Hotel Intercontinental Sydney & Protecting View Corridors

Hotel InterContinental Sydney. Photo taken by the Author (2020).

The Hotel InterContinental Sydney is one of the best hotels to stay with a five star rating. It has been open since 1984 and was built on the site of the former Treasury Building, which was incorporated into the hotel.

In 1988, its owner - English Tycoon and owner of the hotel Lord Alistair McAlpine purchased the adjoining Transport House (1938) for $69 million dollars, outbidding Sid Londish and a Japanese consortium.

He bought the building because he was worried that a future development of the site would block the views of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour which allowed the hotel to charge a premium for its a visitors. This was his justification for the price. Londish only bid $45 million. 

Transport House as viewed from Phillip Street. Photo taken by the Author (2021).

His vision was to incorporate Transport House into the InterContinental Hotel. Today, it is still owned by the hotel but provides office space. It has been listed by the NSW Government on the State Heritage Register. In 2019, there was a proposal to build a ballroom atop the building, but Sydney City Council raised heritage and visual concerns.

Looking back at McAlpine's decision, it has proven to be a wise decision. Apart from rental on the office space in Transport House and the ability to extend the hotel onto the site, the hotel has never had to worry about the loss of harbour views. It has allowed for the hotel to continue to charge a premium and remain as one of the leading hotels for visitors to Sydney. Imagine the loss of income from rooms had he not bought the building, and the impact would be more than $69 million in the long term.

And also it saved another old building from potential demolition.

Source: LaHarnar, N. 1988. "Lording It Over The $69m View". The Daily Mirror, November 30: 5.