Mt Buller landmark Kooroora Hotel to undergo $40m redevelopment and new $6m chairlift to open on Bourke St run for 2019 season

MT BULLER’S Kooroora Hotel has been a legendary meeting place for skiers and revellers for decades. But the resort icon is about to undergo a major revamp.

POPULAR ski resort Mt Buller is set for a makeover with the Grollo Group to spend more than $45 million on improvements.

Amid one of the best snow seasons in years, work is due to start soon on the redevelopment of the famous Kooroora Hotel in the heart of the resort village.

And next year Grollo’s Buller Ski Lifts will install a $6 million six-seater chairlift to replace the heavily-used quad chair on the Bourke St run.

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Artist image of proposed Kooroora Hotel redevelopment at Mt Buller.

Kooroora, which dates from the 1950s, will be transformed into a four-storey entertainment and residential hub featuring a new pub, shops, a 27-room hotel and 24 apartments, most of which have already been sold.

Two bedroom studio units cost about $265,000, while 50 car parks in the basement will go for about $100,000 each.

The $40 million project has been scaled back from original plans.

Grollo Group spokesman Martin Ansell said that a development of that size had not been seen in the Victorian alps for a long time.

“It will become the hub of the village,” he said.

Artist image of proposed Kooroora Hotel redevelopment (left) at Mt Buller.

The company also plans to build three freestanding chalets at its luxury Whitehorse Village apartment site overlooking the Bourke St run.

Selling for about $2.8 million the new dwellings will feature three bedrooms, a rumpus room and double garage.

Mr Ansell said that demand for quality accommodation on Mt Buller was strong, and the mountain was increasingly becoming a year-round destination with summer activities like mountain biking and car racing events.

“It’s never going to compete with Portsea and Sorrento, but it’s a different offering,” he said.

Mt Buller snow reporter David Clark said snow conditions were excellent after solid mid-season falls.

“The snow cover is the best for August since 2004, with every one of the 22 lifts open and all runs covered,” he said.

Mt Buller will get a new $6m six-seater chairlift in 2019.

Buller Ski Lifts general manager Laurie Blampied said it would be sad to see the retirement of the Blue Bullet quad chairlift next year, but after moving 17 million people over 34 years it was time to go.

“The upgrade to a larger and faster six-seater means less time waiting in lines and more time on the snow for Mt Buller skiers and boarders,” he said.