Florin Hotel

Florin Hotel is a AU$275 million adaptive reuse of the 1936 former Australian headquarters of Universal Pictures at 499 Kent Street, converting the building into a 228-room, 20-storey luxury lifestyle hotel for EVT's Independent Collection. SJB Architects designed the scheme, Hickory is building it, and the highlight is an 18th-floor 'vertigo suite' with a glass floor above a rooftop infinity pool. Originally targeted for late 2027, the project was being marketed for sale to investors by August 2026 with a more cautious Q1 2028 completion estimate.

The place

The hotel occupies 499 Kent Street in the Sydney CBD, a mid-block site between the Town Hall and Darling Harbour precincts, in a stretch of the city dense with office towers and heritage sandstone rather than harbour frontage. The location trades a water view for centrality: it sits within walking distance of Town Hall station, the retail core around George Street and the Darling Harbour convention and entertainment district, making it a CBD business-and-leisure address rather than a resort-style destination.

The concept

Florin occupies a building with a genuine second act: constructed in 1936, it served as the Australian headquarters of Universal Pictures before decades as commercial office space, and its adaptive reuse into a hotel is the first hospitality use the address has ever had. SJB Architects has kept the heritage-listed lower levels, reportedly around three original storeys, largely intact while adding roughly 17 new levels above, wrapped in a dynamic 3D facade designed to shift appearance with the daylight, and worked cinematic references from the site's studio history into guestroom detailing rather than a themed pastiche.

The project is a joint venture between Int.re and Icon Oceania, the team behind Sydney's Vibe Darling Harbour, with Hickory appointed builder following groundbreaking. EVT Hotels & Resorts, the ASX-listed operator behind brands including Rydges and QT, will run the finished 228-room property under its Independent Collection banner, positioning Florin as a standalone luxury-lifestyle flag rather than a flagged chain hotel. The headline design feature is an 18th-floor 'vertigo suite' with a transparent glass floor, alongside a First Nations artwork integrated into the building's northern facade. Notably, by mid-2026 the nearly complete asset was already being shopped to investors as a going-concern sale, marketed as potentially the last new-build luxury lifestyle hotel the Sydney CBD will see for some time given development feasibility constraints: a sign the developers may exit before the hotel ever opens under their ownership.

Dining & wellness

Plans described in press and marketing materials include two food-and-beverage venues, an infinity-edge rooftop pool with a two-level rooftop bar, a ground-floor restaurant and bar opening onto a courtyard with living green walls, and a wellness facility. No chefs, restaurant names or spa brand have been publicly confirmed.