One of the world's most prestigious hotel chains, the Ritz-Carlton, is set for a return to Sydney.
Casinos operator The Star Entertainment Group is in talks with Ritz-Carlton to build a luxury hotel at its inner-city Pyrmont site.
The new Ritz-Carlton is expected to be about 200m tall and feature around 360 rooms as well as restaurants and bars.
The hotel tower and the development of facilities linking it to The Star casino - including food and beverage outlets - will cost around $500 million.
It could open by 2020, ahead of a new luxury hotel and VIP-only casino being developed by casino mogul James Packer's Crown Resorts at Barangaroo South.
The development of a Ritz-Carlton hotel in Sydney comes on top of $500 million that The Star Entertainment Group is spending on upgrading its casino and hotel complex in Sydney.
The addition of the Ritz-Carlton hotel would increase the number of rooms available at The Star casino complex in Sydney to about 1,000.
If the project goes ahead, it would be the second hotel built by Ritz-Carlton in Sydney since it opened a luxury hotel at Double Bay in the city's east in 1991.
Over the next decade, the hotel hosted luminaries including Bill Clinton, Madonna, Princess Diana and INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, who died there.
It was renamed the Sir Stamford in 2001 before closing for redevelopment in 2009 and later reopening as the InterContinental Sydney Double Bay.
The Star Entertainment Group has already agreed with Ritz-Carlton to redevelop the Treasury casino and hotel buildings in Brisbane into a hotel and premium retail precinct when the casino moves to the new integrated casino and resort under development at Queen's Wharf.
"We're in discussions with Ritz-Carlton to progress the branding of the proposed hotel tower (in Sydney)," a spokesman for The Star Entertainment Group said on Monday.
"We look forward to having a Ritz-Carlton hotel as part of the Queen's Wharf project in Brisbane and potentially a Ritz-Carlton in Sydney as well."
Ritz-Carlton is also currently developing hotels in Perth and Melbourne.
Ritz-Carlton has said it is committed to providing exceptional hotel experiences in the major cosmopolitan cities of Australia, given the growing number of tourists visiting Australia.
Shares in The Star Entertainment Group were three cents lower at $5.05 at 1505 AEDT.
