Developers are trying to fill Hobart’s 2500-bed hotel void with additions to the Masonic temple approved and a scaled-back, six-storey application for the old Navy Club in planning.
The state’s tourism economy is up 4.3 per cent in the past year to a $3.6-billion expenditure by visitors, driving the push for more rooms, according to Tourism Tasmania research to May.
The state capital needs around 2500 more hotel beds to support the visitor economy, City of Hobart councillor Ryan Posselt said last week in the Planning Authority Committee meeting where the Freemasons project was approved.
A seven-storey hotel will be built at the back of the Tasmanian Freemasons-owned Hobart Masonic temple at 3 Sandy Bay Road, which is next to a Mantra Hotel.
Architects Designhaus were behind the 36-room St David’s Hotel plans on the 675sq m site, which included a rooftop bar and the conversion of the lower levels of the Masonic temple into a lobby.
“The new public use onsite through tourism accommodation will reactivate the site and the broader urban surrounds, giving a quality mid-scale, bespoke option to Hobart visitors,” architect Richard Crawford said in the planning reports.
“It also allows a sustainable future for the existing Masonic hall building and its owners whilst they renew and continue to serve the community at large.”
Around the corner, Tellyros Klonis Unit Trust made a second planning proposal for its 809sq m site at 63 Davey Street, Hobart.
The JAWS Architecture-designed scheme comprises a six-storey boutique hotel, a bar and valet parking for 38 cars above a three-storey podium which match in with historic buildings in the area.
This would create 67-rooms to replace the single-storey brick building that is being used as a furniture store, according to the plans on advertisement with PlanBuild Tasmania until October 8.
About five years ago the trust proposed a 10-storey development for the site with 30 apartments and 21 student accommodation units which was refused for being too high.
