New hotels to transform Hobart
Hobart’s skyline will be changed forever with Singaporean group Fragrance planning to build two interconnected hotels.
A 120 metre tall hotel with sky gardens reaching five storeys high will be linked by a skybridge to the waterfront. That means pedestrians won’t have to cross busy Davey Street.
In addition to that, Fragrance and Tasmanian architectural firms Xsquared and S. Group plan to build a 75 metre high 1000-seat conference centre on the site of the old Roberts building. The hotel will have 495 rooms in 20 storeys.
And again, a skybridge will be used to link the building to Macquarie Point.
All of this will take the Fragrance Group’s investment in Hobart to more than $250 million.
But according to Fragrance Group head James Koh, the company’s total investment in the city is closer to quarter of billion dollars when taking into account the Fragrance Group 296-room room hotel already under construction.
He said the hotels would meet the all the current and future needs of Hobart and that Fragrance would undertake marketing to attract more visitors to the city.
The two hotels will be the tallest buildings ever to be built in Hobart.’
The development applications will be lodged with Hobart City Council this week.
Tourism Industry Council Tasmania CEO Luke Martin said the massive size of the hotels was sure to generate a lot of debate in the community and in the state’s tourism industry.
“Both projects are not intended to open for at least five years, which should alleviate some industry concerns about over supply in the Hobart accommodation market over the next few years as a series of other new hotel developments come online,” Mr Martin told the Hobart Mercury.
“Both these projects will obviously now need to be considered by the Hobart City Council through its planning processes, and all stakeholders will have the opportunity to contribute to that process.”
by Leon Gettler, October 26th 2016
