Munich-based property group Arabella Hospitality is strengthening its presence in Switzerland with the development of a new hotel complex in partnership with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Located in Zurich, the new project will be part of Arabella's 80-metre high Hard Turm Park tower project and will be delivered in the spring of 2013 as a Sheraton Zurich hotel.

Designed by architects Gmür & Geschwentner Architekten, the property will feature 196 rooms and suits, conference facilities, a ball room, restaurants, and a wellness and fitness centre. The hotel, with 16,500 m2 of space, will take the 10 lower floors of the 23-storey skyscraper. Construction is planned to start in the summer of 2010.

'Switzerland is an important core and growth market for us,' said Wolfgang M. Neumann, Chief Executive of Arabella, which mostly focuses on Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Mallorca. 'The new, modern hotel will take a leading position in the Zurich hospitality market.'

The property will be the second Sheraton hotel in Zurich after the renovation in summer 2009 of the Sheraton Neues Schloss Hotel in the heart of the city. 'The Sheraton Zurich is an important pillar of our continuing growth in the EMEA region,' said Roeland Vos, President Starwood Hotels & Resorts EMEA.