A render of Geocon’s Republic development. The new hotel will have 152 rooms. Image: Geocon.
Geocon’s hotel arm – Iconic Hotels – is on track to open its new 152-room operation in Belconnen in September, as part of the massive Republic development taking shape in the town centre.
Iconic Hotels says the Abode Belconnen will be the eighth property within that brand, and its 10th hotel overall.
It says the planned opening comes despite a difficult time for the travel industry after many other hotels across the market were forced to close their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There have been reports that Geocon had been forced to postpone its hotel developments as it cut costs in the more constrained environment but news of the September opening will be a vote of confidence in Canberra and the industry in general.
General manager of Iconic Hotels Rien Donkin says the company has been able to push forward with the opening of its newest property due to its swift reaction to the pandemic. While the hotel industry in general reported record lows across the past three months of the pandemic, Iconic Hotels remains positive about the future, he says.
“The future remains strong for Iconic Hotels with the development of more hotels and landmark destinations still very much in the pipeline,” Mr Donkin says.
“The impending opening of Abode Belconnen marks the first of many exciting milestones scheduled for the years to come.”
A one-bedroom unit in the new Abode Belconnen. Photo: Iconic Hotels.
Geocon managing director Nick Georgalis says every hotel opening is worth celebrating ”but considering the extreme challenges the industry is currently facing, this particular milestone is all the more rewarding for everyone involved”.
Geocon’s Republic development is a mixed-use precinct at Section 200 on the corner of Cameron Avenue, Eastern Valley Way and Emu Bank, and will be home to more than 3,000 residents, food and beverage venues, lifestyle shops and commercial spaces, as well as landscaped gardens and shared recreational areas.
It will include more than 1200 apartments and the ACT’s highest towers at 113 metres and 110 metres.
The new hotel will deliver 152 stylishly appointed self-contained, apartment-style rooms to the Canberra accommodation market, pitched at guests traveling for work or leisure, with several room types available to accommodate all needs.
Its onsite restaurant, No.10 Restaurant + Bar, owned and operated by Iconic Hotels, will be the second No.10 to open in Canberra. The first is located at Abode Woden.
Located at 3 Grazier Lane, Abode Belconnen will be the sixth Abode Hotel to open in Canberra, with the brand’s other two properties at Murrumbateman and on the South Coast at Malua Bay.
Geocon is also planning a five-star hotel in the city on Garema Place and another luxury operation in the heritage West Block building in the Parliamentary Triangle.
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