Adelaide will host its first new five-star hotel in decades, the State Government confirmed today.

Construction of a 32-storey Sofitel-branded hotel on Currie Street – the tallest mixed use development in the state – will begin in 2017.

The $140 million hotel will feature 250 rooms and suites with extensive leisure and business facilities, including a restaurant, four bars, a ballroom, a swimming pool, a health and fitness centre, meeting and conference rooms and a “Sofitel Club Lounge”.

There will be 80 apartments over the top eight levels of the building, with the remaining floors comprising the hotel’s suites and facilities.

Hundreds of jobs will be created during the construction of the hotel and around 150 people are expected to be employed there after its opening, due in 2018.

Premier Jay Weatherill argued the new hotel was the result of State Government investments and changes to CBD planning laws.

“This is another example of the private investment now flowing from the public investments in the Adelaide Oval, Convention Centre and the new Royal Adelaide Hospital,” he said.

“Over the past 12 months we have seen at least three new hotels open and many more apartment complexes begin construction or near completion.

“This development also would not have happened if it weren’t for the comprehensive changes to the CBD planning laws.

“Having a luxury branded five-star hotel in Adelaide will be a further boost to our $5.1 billion tourism industry, which employs more than 33,000 people.

“As a valuable industry to the state’s economy, it is important we support new and refreshed tourism developments, further develop accommodation in the city and continue to invest in South Australia’s tourism assets and experiences.”

The 32-storey hotel will tower over TafeSA’s Adelaide City Campus.

Australia’s largest hotel operator, Accor, will manage the hotel.

Accor Pacific chief operating officer Simon McGrath said the development of the Sofitel Adelaide hotel would further elevate Adelaide’s international profile.

He said Adelaide now had the right mix of “hard and soft infrastructure” – in major developments coupled with a vibrant events calendar – to attract investment.

“We’ve watched Adelaide over a number of years and seen a great coming together of key initiatives to attract hotel groups,” he said.

“It is almost 30 years since a hotel of this status and quality has been built in Adelaide’s CBD and it will help attract significant increases in tourism, business travel and conferences to the city.”

Daniel Palumbo, Managing Director of construction and development firm Palumbo Pty Ltd, said the hotel was a sign that Adelaide’s international reputation was growing.

“Our city is starting to be seen on the world stage,” he said.

Palumbo said the firm conducted a year-long process to identify a hotel partner for the site.

“Sofitel Adelaide will be South Australia’s premier hotel destination and is a French luxury hotel brand associated with beauty, quality and excellence,” Palumbo said.

“It will combine the very best South Australian wine and produce with the finest French pastries, wines, cheeses and breads, all of which create a uniquely European experience for guests.”

McGrath said there were good signs for the hotels industry in South Australia.

“The demand into Adelaide’s visitor economy is growing despite new hotel supply entering the market last year,” he said.

“Occupancy for the total market finished just under 80 per cent in occupancy while revenue per room grew by 5.5 per cent.

“This growth is being fuelled by major projects such as the Adelaide Oval and Convention Centre.”

The proposal for the hotel was presented to the Development Assessment Commission in January last year.

The hotel will be the first Sofitel-branded in South Australia and the sixth in Australia.

SA Executive Director of the Property Council Daniel Gannon welcomed the announcement.

He said the key to South Australia’s future attractiveness as an economic destination was tax reform.

“What we need to do right now is bulldoze barriers to investment, not build them – and that means implementing widespread tax reform to ensure South Australia’s job floodgates stay open,” he said.

– Additional reporting by Tom Richardson.