Wednesday, 09 September 2015   By Vaimoana Tapaleao 

Work on a $200 million luxury hotel on Auckland's waterfront will start next year after the project was granted resource consent this week.

Auckland Council's Panuku Development Auckland branch made the announcement this morning. The building will be one of the largest Chinese investments in New Zealand infrastructure.

The hotel - to be referred to as the Park Hyatt Auckland - will be managed by the world-renowned Hyatt Group and will be built with the help of the Fu Wah International Group, which announced its plans for the hotel in November.

The group will invest around $200 million in the project, with $2.5 million going to the development of a new space for the public immediately around the hotel, which will be located at Wynyard Quarter.

The building will bring an element of extravagance to the area, standing at seven storeys high.

It will have 195 rooms, a ballroom, entertainment facilities, health centre and day spa and will have a total floor area of 29,000sq m.

Panuku Development Auckland's interim chief, John Dalzell, said having a quality hotel in the city would create a new standard of "premium accommodation" in the region.

"This is a landmark site for Wynyard Quarter and is deserving of a building of the standard the developer and its design team have come up with," he said.

"It's great to see it pass this latest milestone and we look forward to the positive impact the hotel will have on the waterfront and the region."

Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism John Key yesterday praised the new hotel, saying that it would provide a huge boost for local tourism.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown, who is in China, said that such a hotel would help not only to attract the very rich to Auckland, but would also create more jobs in the city's business district.

"This hotel means more jobs and a strong step into the lucrative but largely untapped high-net-worth individuals tourism sector - which will be a huge benefit to Auckland's economy and future."

The hotel will open in 2017.