Melbourne’s Next Luxury Landmark Set to Captivate Singapore Investors - The Business Times
A world-leading luxury hotel brand new to Australia will anchor THE ONE, PDG’s A$1.5 billion riverfront tower in Southbank
SINGAPORE, 13 NOVEMBER 2026 – THE ONE, a A$1.5 billion, 71-storey tower on Melbourne’s Yarra River, is set to bring a world-leading luxury hotel brand to Australia for the first time, with private residences above and below it.
Developed by Melbourne’s PDG opposite Crown Melbourne in Southbank, the residences will be presented to Singapore buyers by Solomon Bloom at a private preview at Mandarin Oriental Singapore on 21 and 22 November, ahead of the project’s public launch in Australia. The hotel brand will be officially announced at the event.
Singapore is a natural audience. It is Australia’s fifth-largest foreign investor, with A$149 billion invested (DFAT), and Singapore-based buyers made 39 per cent of offshore commercial property purchases in Australia in the year to August 2026, more than any other country (CommBank).
The hotel arrives as Melbourne’s hotel market sets records. Average room rates reached a January record of A$261.74 in 2026, according to CoStar. PDG’s figures put one night at the brand’s hotels abroad at between about A$1,150 and A$3,700. Homes in hotel-branded buildings have historically sold at a premium: Savills puts the global average at around 33 per cent above comparable unbranded homes.
“A brand like this doesn’t go into a new city just to become the next hotel,” said Han Dol Kim, Founder of Solomon Bloom, the Australian consultancy presenting the project in Singapore with PDG. “They want to go there and make a statement.”
For most buyers, the conversation soon turns to income. An appraisal of the building by Melbourne agency Melcorp in June 2026 put indicative rents for unfurnished one-bedroom apartments at A$750 to A$950 a week, and two-bedroom apartments at A$1,200 to A$1,600, with higher figures for furnished corporate leasing.
Set against PDG’s price guide for one-bedroom apartments, of about A$656,000 to A$724,000, that suggests a gross yield of roughly 5.4 to 7.5 per cent before costs. Melbourne apartments average 5.2 per cent (Cotality), while Singapore condominiums are commonly cited at around 3 per cent.
PDG also points to its neighbouring Prima Pearl tower, where it says 19 resales have averaged 21.5 per cent above their original off-the-plan prices. “Walk into Prima today and it looks like it was finished yesterday,” said Mark Giuliano of PDG. “We’ve managed that building for ten years.” As with any property, rents and resale values are not guaranteed.
The 5,059 sqm site lay vacant for more than 15 years before PDG bought it from Crown owner Blackstone in 2024.
“We’ve watched this site for ten years, ever since we built Prima next door,” Mr Giuliano said. “When Blackstone called to ask whether we were interested, it was an easy decision. A riverfront site opposite Crown doesn’t come up often, and we want to build something on it that Melbourne hasn’t seen before.”
Approved in August 2026 and designed by COX Architecture with ODO, the tower combines apartments on levels 12 to 45, hotel rooms on levels 47 to 54 and branded residences on levels 56 to 71. Across the road, Crown is investing A$200 million in its largest redevelopment in almost 30 years.
Solomon Bloom works mainly with investors from Singapore and Southeast Asia, from offices in Melbourne, Adelaide and Singapore, and says it settles around A$150 million in property transactions a year. It guides buyers from project selection through Foreign Investment Review Board approval, finance and settlement to leasing and management.
“Our checklist is this: it’s got to be brand new, it’s got to be the right product at the right price, and it’s got to be in the inner city, on the infrastructure, where the demand is,” said Mr Kim.
The November sessions follow a first presentation of THE ONE in Singapore by PDG and Solomon Bloom in October.
Marketed in Singapore in cooperation with REN Realty (Private Limited), CEA Licence No. L3010678D.
Solomon Bloom is an Australian property consultancy advising international investors, mainly from Singapore and Southeast Asia, on buying residential and commercial property in Australia. It guides clients from project selection through finance, settlement, leasing and management, with offices in Melbourne, Adelaide and Singapore. www.solomonbloom.com
PDG is a Melbourne-based, family-owned property group founded by Managing Director Vince Giuliano. It develops, builds and manages its projects, including Prima Pearl in Southbank, and its strata management business looks after about 80 buildings. THE ONE at 1 Queens Bridge Street is its A$1.5 billion tower of residences, branded residences and a five-star luxury hotel.
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