Silo Hotel construction over budget
The construction of the Silo Hotel in Launceston is now $7 million over budget.
Hotel owner Erroll Stewart said the original budget was $20 million.
It’s now blown out to $27.5 million.
He says the costs just keep increasing in what he calls a “demanding and challenging project.”
“I’ve made some changes to it [during construction], for the better in my view, and every time I make a change it costs me some money,” Mr Erroll told the Launceston Examiner.
“We’ve leased some crown land off the government on the foreshore, so we’ve done some work on the wharf, and that will be another public domain.
“We’ve created some car parking and really improved the space over there.”
Still, he says he has no regrets starting the project.
“I’ve probably spent more money than I should have, but it’s not all about money – it’s about doing something that you really enjoy, and creating something out of not much,” he told the newspaper.
“I think we’ll create a very iconic building and hopefully my grandchildren will be proud of me when I’ve gone to heaven.”
Construction work on the hotel is due to finish in May.
The first window on the ninth storey was cut last week. And the rest is expected to be completed over the next week.
Construction manager Craig Wood says the crews now need to waterproof the exterior of the building.
The silos will need painting and the scaffolding will have to be removed level-by-level.
Mr Wood the big challenge was the unorthodox nature of the development.
He said that created a raft of difficulties in the window cutting process.
“Cutting the windows has always been a challenge, because you’re cutting on curves,” Mr Wood told the Launceston Examiner.
“Height’s also an issue – we’re not doing many multistorey buildings in Launceston, so that always slows you down.”
by Leon Gettler, February 2nd 2017.
