Heritage buildings find second life as luxury hotels as adaptive reuse gains momentum

A new generation of luxury hotel projects is repurposing Australia's heritage building stock, with developers finding that historically significant architecture drives premium room rates, elevated media coverage and differentiated brand positioning that new-build projects struggle to replicate. The trend spans both major CBDs and inner-suburban precincts, with projects ranging from former Salvation Army facilities and Victorian-era factories to colonial-era warehouses and grand Edwardian bank buildings.