$80m, six-storey Anchorage Hotel plan for Victor Harbor

A proposed 100-room hotel and apartment complex at Victor Harbor will be assessed by the state’s peak planning panel, after developers and the local council came to an impasse.

Revised plans for an $80m hotel and apartment complex at Victor Harbor will create more than 300 jobs, a developer says.

Anchorage Hotel owner Greg Phillips’ new designs will be assessed by the State Commission Assessment Panel.

The six-storey Wyndham complex will stand next to the historic hotel on Flinders Parade, and feature 100 rooms, 27 apartments, two restaurants and two levels of basement carparking.

It’s the third design submitted for development approval, with two others previously given the green light by Victor Harbor Council’s planning panel.

An artist's impression of the $80m Anchorage redevelopment at Victor Harbor. Picture: Supplied

Since the first plan, approved in 2019, the building has increased in size, after the company acquired an adjoining property.

Its cost has also increased from $50m, and a multi-deck carpark planned on Victor Harbor Council-owned land at the rear of the development will now be incorporated into the basement.

The new plans follow an impasse between Mr Phillips and the council over the carpark, which was to incorporate spaces for the general public along with hotel guests.

Mr Phillips said if approved, work would start at the end of next year, with an expected opening time frame of late 2024.

An artist's impression of the $80m Anchorage redevelopment at Victor Harbor. Picture: Supplied

“Over the past couple of years (the council) went out and sought third-party registrations for other parties to build the carpark … and it became too onerous and dragged out,” Mr Phillips said.

“Our advice was to bring the carpark on site to get control of the approval process.”

The four-and-a-half star hotel is expected to be a drawcard for the region, which lacks large-scale high-end accommodation.

The project will create long-term work for about 112 people, and 217 people during its construction.

It would inject about $12.4m each year into the regional economy.

Victor Harbor Mayor Moira Jenkins said the council was now planning its own a four-storey public carpark behind the development, on McKinlay St. That project will cost $9m-$12, and still requires council sign-off.

Dr Jenkins said because the proposed carpark was to be used by the whole community, it needed lifts and wheelchair access. She said these aspects were incorporated into a memorandum of understanding, which Mr Phillips did not sign.

Dr Jenkins said councillors were still keen to work with him, and the public carpark’s design would allow for a footbridge to the Anchorage development to be added later, if an agreement was reached.