More than 100 apartments proposed for empty block on Todd Street in heart of Alice Springs

A block of land in the Red Centre capital – which has sat empty since a backpackers and nightclub was demolished – could become hundreds of apartments under a new proposal for the site.

Design plans for 94 Todd Street, Alice Springs. More than 100 apartments are planned for the site. Picture: DKJ Projects Architecture

A new proposal for an empty block of land in the Red Centre could transform the skyline, with a plan proposing multiple buildings which will be more than 20 metres high.

Until midnight, July 26, comment is being sought on a “exceptional development permit application” for a 174 apartments and an office space for 94 Todd St, Alice Springs.

The 13,000 sqm block – which has sat empty since a backpackers and nightclub was demolished on the site in 2008 – will house five six storey buildings, one five storey building, and single storey office building, according to the application submitted by Cunnington Rosse Town Planning and Consulting on behalf of Melanka.

The report, prepared by Cunnington Rosse Town Planning and Consulting director Brad Cunnington, said once constructed the Northern Territory government would acquire 72 of the proposed units via a 10-year-lease for essential workers.

“The remaining units will be offered for rent or (potentially) sale to the open market, with the facility to function as an integrated dwelling-multiple complex, including carparking, landscaping, communal open space and associated service infrastructure,” the application states.

The application states that no apartments will be on the ground level, and the 21.3m proposed buildings will house a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments.

The boab trees on 94 Todd Street, Alice Springs. Picture: Gera Kazakov.

Significant trees on the site – such as the boab trees in the middle of the block – are set to be saved and included in the development, according to the application.

More than 300 parking spaces will be included in the development, with the office space also set to be used as overflow, the planning application states.

“The actual overall demand is likely to be no more than 303 spaces, with a maximum required allocation of 296 spaces for the residential component, and seven spaces available for the office component,” the application states.

“The proposed development provides 309 carparking spaces, with 297 available for the residential component and 12 for the office component.”

The planning application shows the office will be on the empty of block of land which is separated by a laneway at the rear of the site.

It’s the third time an application has put forward on the former Melanka backpackers and nightclub site.

The first two were approved in 2010 and in 2015.

The 2015 plan – which was approved by then planning minister David Tollner – was for an eight-storey 86 room hotel, 190 apartments, a 108 place childcare centre, and a rooftop bar.

Originally published as More than 100 apartments proposed for empty block on Todd Street in heart of Alice Springs