Iglu Bondi Junction ready to start on Hollywood Ave lifestyle hotel

An multimillion-dollar “lifestyle hotel” backed by a company who specialises in student accommodation is preparing to start work on their Bondi Junction project following a court win.

Hollywood Avenue’s latest high-rise is set to start construction with the developer calling tenders and applying for some final tweaks to their $36 million project.

Student accommodation provider Iglu took their 11-storey proposal to the Land and Environment Court in 2019 after a “deemed refusal” by Waverley Council, who received 24 objections and did not respond to the development application in the required time frame.

Iglu, who state this development will be a “lifestyle hotel”, won their appeal last July and this month lodged an application to vary the DA with council.

The original proposal by Iglu. Picture: Supplied

Requested changes to the approved plans include reconfiguring the basement, relocating the gym, providing an extra food and beverage tenancy complete with a commercial kitchen on the ground floor and replacing the approved terracotta tiles for the facade with glass reinforced concrete tiles.

“The modification proposes internal and external design changes that are a consequence of ongoing design development and do not change the fundamental use or design of the development,” the latest application reads.

“The modifications are proposed for the purpose of improving the internal floor planning and the development’s external architectural expression, as well as better activating the ground floor to contribute to the activity of the hotel during the day and night.”

The approved design on the left and proposed changes on the right. Picture: Supplied

The site is right next to Westfield Bondi Junction in the heart of the bustling suburb.

It is currently occupied by an ageing two-storey commercial building whose tenants include a chiropractor and accountant.

When the DA was taken to the Land and Environment Court in 2019, commenters expressed their concerns, most of which centred around whether it would also service short-term student stays like the other properties in the Iglu stable.

“The building is presented as a “lifestyle” hotel, a term deliberately left undefined and vague. Mere provision of a gym and a cafeteria does not make it a “lifestyle” building,” one person wrote.

Iglu did not respond to a request for comment by the Wentworth Courier.