Parking shortfall raised as Aria decision nears

Developer Aria Group has responded to a list of issues raised by Sunshine Coast Council with its $250 million, 5-star hotel and apartment development at Mooloolaba.

Proposed Aria Hotel for Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast

DEVELOPER Aria Property has responded to a list of issues raised by Sunshine Coast Council with its $250 million, 5-star hotel and apartment development at Mooloolaba.

The council is understood to be close to making a decision on whether or not to approve the application that was lodged in April.

Negotiations have resulted in some changes to the proposal for the River Esplanade site, including an expansion of balconies on 24 units situated between levels seven and 11 in response to shading concerns.

The council also sought information on 13 aspects of the development including parking, reducing the heat and light impacts reflections from glass would have on the surrounding urban environment and energy use reduction strategies.

It asked Aria to provide an updated parking analysis to show no increase in shortfall would occur as a result of the development, considering half of the short-term rooms were proposed to not have car spaces.

“Given the building’s location on the Esplanade, and the high level of tourist population along this road frontage it is anticipated that a high percentage of all visitors will arrive on foot, entering off the Esplanade lobby on ground level,” Aria’s response to parking concerns read.

“Hotel guests will have access to a professional valet parking service and this will allow management to manage peak flow periods and utilise the numerous tandem car spaces effectively.”

The new $250 million Aria development proposed to transform Mooloolaba.

In specifically addressing shortfall concerns, Aria’s response said a series of recent hotel projects had been benchmarked as a part of its investigations into prospective management organisations for the 5-star hotel.

They included Brisbane hotels The Westin, W Hotel, Pullman/ Ibis, Novotel and Rydges Hotel.

“The Novotel is the most recent example with similar dining, conference and accommodation and this project includes an allowance of 25 per cent of hotel rooms with a parking space provided,” the response read.

“This hotel has been operating for more than 12 months with no parking issues to date and utilises valet parking to efficiently manage the day-to-day parking requirements.

It said other projects benchmarked had designed their carparks using between 25 per cent and 50 per cent parking ratios.

The new $250 million Aria development proposed to transform Mooloolaba.

“For this reason the applicant considers the proposed parking ratio of 50 per cent for the short term accommodation component is more than reasonable.”Aria was also asked to provide evidence an awning on its building would not impact significantly on views from outdoor dining areas of neighbouring eateries.

“The proposed awning has been specifically designed to allow views through and under the structure to the public realm beyond,” was the response.

Aria is yet to confirm which hotel operator will manage the 5-star hotel aspect of its development.

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