Landbridge site at the Waterfront needs to be built on or activated before it becomes a permanent eyesore

DEVELOPMENT of the $200m six-star luxury Westin hotel at the Waterfront might be stalled, but that doesn’t mean this prime land can’t be put to good use, writes DENISE CAHILL.

• Darwin Port owner stops work on $200m luxury hotel
• All quiet on the Waterfront as $200m six-star hotel work slows

BUILD or activate, that’s an ultimatum.

Landbridge announced last week that it would walk away from building its $200m six-star luxury Westin hotel at the Waterfront if construction couldn’t get off the ground in a year.

The NT government says it will take back the prime land to progress the luxury hotel or another job-creating project.

A Landbridge spokesman said the company had agreed to a 12-month suspension “while we consider the feasibility of continuing with the hotel development”.

“Regrettably, COVID-19 and related economic impacts have fundamentally impacted the feasibility of the project,” the spokesman said.

“If we don’t resume work by end of June 2021, Landbridge will not continue with the project.”

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Initial plans had construction starting early next year, with a grand opening in mid-2022.

In the meantime, the site provides restricted road and foot access around the Waterfront.

The government and Landbridge, which also has the lease for the Darwin Port, needs to put the land to use now while they contemplate the future of the development.

The site can’t stay fenced up for another year … or potentially longer.

Here are some ideas: carparking, public open space or “just the place for a new RSL” as suggested by an ntnews.com.au reader.

Festival Park at Darwin Festival is solid evidence that pop-up food stalls and bars complemented by entertainment are a hit with locals and visitors alike.

Activating the space would also make the area safer.

At the moment the area from the Deckchair Cinema around to the Waterfront is dark as soon as the sun goes down or before it comes up.

The area is often teaming with runners and people exercising and some activation on that site would make the black spot safer.

An artist’s impress of the planned Westin hotel at the Darwin Waterfront. Picture: Supplied

Now is not the time to miss an opportunity.

The only thing worse for Darwin than losing a hotel project that will create jobs and add extra public facilities – the NT government has committed $17m towards public infrastructure associated with the project, including a Skywalk connecting the waterfront to the CBD – is that land remaining vacant for years to come.

It happened at a beachfront in Perth when Chinese developer 3 Oceans pulled out of a $450m, twin-tower development on a prime site in Scarborough.

The developers were quick to kick paying tenants out of the old buildings and demolish the site but it lay dormant for more than a year and the project was eventually canned.

In the meantime, visitors to one of Perth’s premiere beachfronts were greeted with an eyesore … and lack of parking.

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Don’t let that happen in “the safest place in Australia”.

Darwin has an amazing precinct at the Waterfront and around the corner with the Deckchair Cinema.

Don’t spoil it by creating an eyesore and letting it sit there for years on end.

It needs to be put to good use.

Denise Cahill is the Head of News at the NT News

Follow @DeniseCahill18