Plans lodged for $30 million hotel in old DMH building at Port Adelaide

Get the first look at the amazing transformation of the derelict Marine and Harbors Building into a $30 million boutique hotel.

• Old DMH building to be turned into new Port hotel
• Dock One development given planning approval

Plans for the transformation of the derelict Marine and Harbors building at Port Adelaide into a $30 million boutique hotel have been lodged with the State Government.

The 10-storey building, which has been vacant for more than two decades, would be turned into a 71-room hotel — plus another 10 floating rooms directly over the Port River which would each have their own landings, moorings and pontoons.

The accommodation would include a rooftop bar, restaurant and outdoor cinema.

It would form part of the $168 million Dock One housing development, being built by Starfish Developments.

Artist impression of the Marine and Harbors Building as it will be transformed into a hotel. Photo supplied by Starfish Developments

Starfish was in negotiations with a number of international hotel chains to operate the building in conjunction with Starfish.

The hotel was expected to open next year.

Starfish Developments managing director Damon Nagel believed the hotel would help attract more people to Port Adelaide and help revive a neglected corner of the Port.

“Our focus as a developer is always to break new ground, to create enticing and attractive places to live, work and visit that build on the foundations that already exist in the community and locality,” Mr Nagel said.

Architect Enzo Caroscio, who is working on the Dock One project, said the board-formed concrete building was an “outstanding example” of 1970s “stripped-down brutalist architecture”.

View from the top of the DMH building. Supplied by Starfish Developments

“It’s great to have the rare opportunity to retain such an iconic structure, with a contemporary reinterpretation to bring it up to date,” Mr Caroscio said.

The building was constructed in 1971.

Since the Department of Marine and Harbors left it in the mid ’90s, it has occasionally been used for Star Force training.

Starfish last year won approval from the State Government’s development panel for the first stage of its Dock One development.

At its completion, the development will feature 750 homes in townhouses and apartments along with public spaces including a waterside piazza and boardwalk.

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