Fragrance Group announces change of high-rise plans for Davey St and Collins St
PUBLIC outcry has forced the Fragrance Group to hold off on its controversial Davey St skyscraper development and scale back the height of its Collins St hotel proposal.
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PUBLIC outcry has forced the Fragrance Group to hold off on its controversial Davey St skyscraper development and scale back the height of its Collins St hotel proposal, but the developers are still being labelled “unreasonable”.
In May last year, the Singaporean-based developer lodged development applications with the Hobart City Council council for a 120m, 400-room hotel in Davey St and a 75m, 495-room hotel in Collins St — worth a combined $230 million.
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The proposals, the tallest buildings ever earmarked for Tasmania’s capital, provoked significant public opposition and a community group called Hobart not Highrise was established.
The Fragrance Group announced on Tuesday it had downsized its Collins St hotel to 50m in response to feedback from the city’s residents.
The developer has also put its much higher Davey St hotel on hold and indicated it could re-look at its height of that proposal if the revised Collins St project — and another new development planned for Elizabeth St — were well received by authorities and the public.
However, Hobart not Highrise president Brian Corr said while Fragrance had listened to Hobart’s residents, it was not enough.
“They are still being unreasonable. Residents will not settle for a 50m commercial building in a 15m residential zone,” Mr Corr said.
“The Collins Street site is in Sullivan’s Cove and should not be compared with any buildings in the CBD area. They are different areas with different desired outcomes. The hospital has its own planning rules and should not be used when comparing.”
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Premier Will Hodgman said many Tasmanians, and the Government, had expressed concerns about the nature of some recent development proposals being tabled with the council.
“It is important to preserve what’s special about Tasmania. This decision reflects the fact that Fragrance respects that,” Mr Hodgman said.
The Fragrance Group says its new 50m proposal is “more in keeping with the neighbourhood.”
“The revised height is similar to a number of other existing and approved buildings within the vicinity of the city and will be notably lower than the nearby Royal Hobart Hospital towers currently under construction,” Fragrance Principal James Koh said.
The hotel will now comprise 256 rooms along with the 800-seat conference room outlined in the original design. The facade has also be redesigned.
Online, reactions to the news was divided almost equally between those pleased the idea of skyscrapers in had mellowed and others who said the city needed such developments to move forward.
The Fragrance Group has also lodged a new DA with the council for a four-star hotel and apartment complex in Elizabeth St. The $80 million proposal will comprise 214 hotel suites over 13 storeys along with 91 apartments in a 12-storey residential building standing at 45m high.
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It is also building a 63m-high hotel — the Hyatt Centric Hotel — on the old Westpac site in the bus mall after buying out the initial developer.
This has resulted in part of the bus mall being relocated to Macquarie St outside the former Mercury building.
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On Wednesday night, a Hobart City Infrastructure Committee meeting will hear that Fragrance had to pay just $4 per square metre per week for the long term construction activity, hoarding and scaffolding permits at the worksite, and $23 per metered parking space that was lost per day.
Council staff have calculated this at around $35,000 the council will receive for the nearly 20 months it will take for the construction work.
Alderman Anna Reynolds, who asked the question without notice, said the council needed to be adequately paid for the disruption.
“These organisations are well resourced, they can afford to pay fair fees,” she said.
“I really think that we have been a little bit too generous closing an entire side of the road, it just seems that it’s out of balance.”
The new Elizabeth St project and the amended Collins St proposal will be advertised for public comment.
Mr Koh said he hoped the two new development proposals would be supported so construction could start as soon as possible.
“The Fragrance Group remains strongly committed to Tasmania and has additional property interests in Hobart and Launceston,” Mr Koh said.
“The proposed hotel developments will create important construction activity and new employment in Tasmania and when completed help meet the growing need for visitor accommodation.”
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