Up to 170 student beds to be created in Hobart after UTAS acquires Midcity Hotel

UNIVERSITY of Tasmania has bought a hotel in the Hobart CBD in a bid to combat skyrocketing rental costs and a lack of student housing across the city.

UNIVERSITY of Tasmania has bought a hotel in the Hobart CBD in a bid to combat skyrocketing rental costs and a lack of student housing across the city.

On Tuesday, the university announced it had bought Midcity Hotel on the corner of Elizabeth and Bathurst streets.

UTAS Vice-Chancellor Professor Rufus Black said the project, which would provide up to 170 beds, would be a significant boost to meeting demand for student housing.

“We are very aware of the tightening housing market in Hobart and the impact this is having on individuals, families and the broader community,” Prof Black said.

“That’s why we’ve been working on innovative projects that we can act on quickly to address these pressures in the immediate term while continuing to develop further student housing options in the medium term.”

“We have a wonderful university in a wonderful part of the world, and we are committed to providing the infrastructure and the services to support our students while they study with us.

“Just as importantly, we are committed to doing our part to meet the challenges that we as a Tasmanian community face together.”

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The university has significantly increased the number of student beds it provides over the past several years as student numbers have grown, and more accommodation is planned.

Planning of the facility’s refurbishment is underway to ensure it can house 140 students in time for semester two, which starts with orientation week on July 9, with further works to lift that number to more than 170 by the start of semester one, 2019.

UTAS students Monte Bovill and Chelsea Wilde outside the university’s new acquisition, the MidCity Hotel. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

UTAS media student Monte Bovill, who lives at the UTAS-owned Melville St apartments, said the new units would be a great selling feature for the university.

“It’s great living in the city and so close to everything Hobart has to offer,” he said.

“It’s great because so many of the university’s facilities are within walking distance.

“It’s definitely a selling point for prospective students.”

Mr Bovill, 19, said there were many students sleeping on couches and at hostels because they could not find or afford a rental property.

Mr Bovill said this investment would help give students other options.

In March, the university announced it had secured private investment funding to underwrite a new student complex of about 430 beds, worth more than $70 million, at 40 Melville St, adjacent to the recently commissioned Hobart Apartments complex.

Work on this is expected to be completed by 2020.

Lily and Dot owner Katinka Challen, whose shopfront at 150 Elizabeth St will be close to the new student accommodation, welcomed the decision.

“The first UTAS apartments that opened in our block last year have brought life to the city,” she said.

The Midcity Hotel on the corner of Elizabeth and Bathurst streets.

“Anything that brings more people to live in our city is a great thing and I’m very excited about the news.”

TasCOSS chief executive Kym Goodes said students, especially those on low incomes or from low income households, face numerous barriers to attending university in Tasmania.

“This increase in long-term, affordable student accommodation will go some way to breaking down one of those barriers,” Ms Goodes said.

“The location of the accommodation in the heart of Hobart will also provide opportunities for students to more easily balance income-supplementing work in hospitality, retail and other areas with their study.”

The combined capacity of all three new student accommodation developments in the Hobart CBD is about 1040 beds.

A UTAS spokesman declined to reveal how much the uni paid for the hotel.

Prof Black said said Tasmania is enjoying a period of remarkable growth.

“That growth brings benefits, from the economic to the cultural, but also challenges – challenges that with the right ideas and approaches, we can overcome,” he said.

“The University will continue to play an important role in helping our city grow and adapt. We’ll respond to increased demand directly through increasing accommodation supply, but also through the expertise and advice of our researchers.”