Australia's tallest tower to be built in Melbourne

Melbourne will soon be home to Australia's tallest building after a 90-storey, six-star hotel was approved by the state government on Thursday.

The 323-meter building, which will form part of the Crown Casino complex on Melbourne's Southbank, will cost 1.3 billion U.S. dollars to build and will feature 388 hotel rooms and 708 apartments.

Daniel Andrews, Victoria's Premier, said the plans had been approved after Crown agreed to spend 75 million U.S. dollars improving street level amenities near the site of the new tower.

The Queensbridge Hotel Tower would transform Melbourne's skyline and increase the city's capacity to host major events, Andrews told reporters on Thursday.

The project's ability to create jobs for Victoria was another key factor in the approval, he said.

"What we're really approving is 4,000 jobs ... for construction workers and for those in the hospitality sector, in the construction phase and for the future," he said.

"That of course adds to the ten-and-a-half thousand jobs that Crown currently support."

Todd Nisbet, Crown Resorts executive vice-president of strategy and development, said Crown's three existing Melbourne hotels were currently running at over 90 per cent occupancy.

"The proposed addition of this luxury hotel will also assist Melbourne to meet its future tourist accommodation demands, with Crown being able to offer over 2,000 guest rooms and suites upon completion," Nisbet said.

source: Xinhua