A new hotel for Hobart

A nine-storey hotel on Macquarie St, Hobart has had the tick of approval from the city’s planners.

It’s the second time the proposal has come around.

The original development application from the Sydney-based Ressen Property Group was to build a 225-room hotel on the site of the former Myer homewares store in Macquarie St.

It was approved by the Hobart City Council in August 2015 but overturned by the Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal after an appeal from nearby businesses.

Sunset Rock Investments Pty Ltd and JK Tasmania-Hobart Pty Ltd, which owns the neighbouring old Hutchins school building had appealed against the development on height and plot ratio grounds.

This time, however, the $30 million development on the site of a rug and tile centre in Hobart’s CBD has received the green light after the new Hobart Interim Planning Scheme came into force changing height restrictions.

The revised proposal is for a nine-storey, 202-room hotel, ground floor cafe/restaurant, conference facilities and below-ground car park with an open outdoor plaza along the south west corner of the site.

The plans also include a stepped design with a low-rise podium section between 14-16m high at various points with the taller main part of the building standing just under 30m.

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said Hobart needed quality hotels to improve capacity, particularly at the top end of the market.

The project, he said, had been “on the drawing board” for some time and it was good the developers had persisted.

“We just need a steady stream,” Mr Martin told the Hobart Mercury. “These hotels take a long time to get approved, they take a long time to get built, and we just need to know there’s a bit of a pipeline.

“As the industry continues to grow we’re going to have to see that kind of investment flowing continuously.”

Leon Getler 13th March