Errol Stewart reveals plan for shuttered Beaurepaires Invermay
A top Tasmanian developer and business has revealed plans to open a second store on the island state for a massive brand. He has also revealed plans to revamp one of his hotel precincts.
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One of Tasmania’s top businessmen and developers has revealed his plans to open the state’s second National Tiles outlet and the north’s first.
Errol Stewart, the entrepreneur behind Jackson Motor Group, which has six dealerships across the state, is the owner of the commercial building at 8–10 Invermay Rd, Invermay, via his development and construction arm JMC Property Group, planning documents reveal.
The documents reveal the site, formerly home Beaurepaires Invermay, which is understood to have closed in mid-September, several months after it was purchased by JMC, is set to become a National Tiles outlet.
Mr Stewart told the Mercury he purchased the site in approximately July and put it on the market.
“This site is not as big as the old K&D Warehouse (National Tiles opened its first store at Cambridge Park), they have a very big showroom there. This is not as big but in a pretty prominent, pretty hot site,” Mr Stewart said.
The application is currently being advertised by the City of Launceston.
It’s not the only major project Mr Stewart is juggling at the moment – he revealed, for the first time, plans to partially redevelop his Seaport Precinct, which was constructed at the site of an old shipyard in circa 2004. It features the four-storey Peppers Seaport Hotel, private units and restaurants including Mudbar.
He said he expected to lodge a development application in the new year.
“We’ve decided to completely upgrade. There’ll be a big revamp in terms of beds and furniture (in the rooms), there will be a new cafe in bottom level, and we’ll be restructuring the entrance and reception space,” Mr Stewart said.
Elsewhere, Mr Stewart has a $6m office development at South Launceston’s Rose Lane currently open for submissions, his company is constructing two “pretty big showrooms” at JMC Devonport on Don Rd – one for Suzuki and one for Kia – while piling is underway for a third new showroom, this one at JMC Launceston on the corner of Lower Charles and William Streets.
One of Mr Stewart’s most ambitious projects is to build a new $60m centre on the banks of the North Esk River, next to his Peppers Silo Hotel development, which was completed in 2018.
The Kanamaluka Cultural Centre would feature “world-class conferencing facilities alongside a 750-seat concert hall, black box studio and digital suite, large public foyers, flexible space, bars, cafe and a forecourt with a large outdoor screen,” its website boasts.
The City of Launceston voted earlier this year to stump up $35,000 for the preparation of a development application; however, there is a feeling among some councillors the development is unsuited for the flood-prone Invermay site.
Mr Stewart said he was waiting on permission from NRE Tasmania to use the river’s edge for additional parking.
“If they’re happy for us to use it for carparking, then we’ll continue with the DA,” he said.
After that it becomes a question of dollars and cents.
“The best way to give Kanamaluka the best chance of getting the (federal government) interested is for council to lift its priority and commit some money to it. They haven’t been asked and I think that will be on the agenda next year,” he said.
Mr Stewart said he would consider scaling back the proposal and re-lodging it if his grand plans weren’t able to get up.
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