Kodak House: Fragrance Group plans to convert century-old building to visitor accommodation

A proposal to redevelop a century-old heritage-listed Hobart building into accommodation has been revived, with the backing of property giant Fragrance Group.

A property giant has revived plans to redevelop the heritage-listed Kodak House into visitor accommodation.

Property giant Fragrance Group is proposing to redevelop the century-old Kodak House in Elizabeth Street Mall, with plans to convert the largely disused heritage-listed building into visitor accommodation and remove an iconic sign from the exterior.

Kohbart Investments, a subsidiary of the Singaporean-listed Fragrance, has lodged a planning application with the Hobart City Council, outlining its vision for the site, including eight serviced apartments, refurbishment of an existing commercial tenancy on the ground floor, and the demolition of a fire escape at the back of the building.

The structure at 45 Elizabeth St, currently owned by the prominent Giameos family, was built in 1924 and comprises six storeys.

Fragrance Group has revived plans to redevelop the heritage-listed Kodak House.

Camera company, Kodak, operated a retail store, stockroom, and offices on the ground floor, as well as developing, printing and finishing rooms on the first floor, while the other storeys were leased out.

The lower ground level of the building consists of access to Purdy’s Mart and the ground level is currently occupied by a Vodafone outlet. Levels 1-4 are vacant commercial tenancies.

Fragrance Group, which boasts a growing Hobart property portfolio, wants to undertake a new interior fit-out of the building, “reinterpret” the windows, and remove an “outdated” exterior fire escape at the rear.

The application is also seeking approval to use the existing ground floor commercial tenancy for a potential restaurant, with a further cafe tenancy space proposed for the lower ground floor, fronting Purdy’s Mart.

Scanlan Architects, the firm tasked with designing the project, says the original Kodak signs on both the side and front elevations of the building would be “carefully restored to their former glory, preserving their historical significance”.

“By respecting the building’s identity and heritage while adapting it to meet current standards, the project aims to create a harmonious blend of past and present, ensuring a sustainable and vibrant future for this iconic structure,” the architecture firm said in its design application.

Fragrance Group has revived plans to redevelop the heritage-listed Kodak House.

Giameos Constructions and Developments launched an unsuccessful bid to add five apartments to Kodak House in 2020, after concerns were raised about a proposal to remove historic branded signs from the front of the building.

This time, the “primarily internal” redevelopment would only involve the removal of the vertical projecting illuminated wall sign on the southwestern elevation facing the mall.

Heritage consulting firm, Praxis Environment, noted that this sign was not an original component of the building and while there would be “some impact” arising from its loss, the removal was “considered to be acceptable and the identity of the building will remain”.

Praxis Environment’s Brad Williams described Kodak House in his heritage assessment as an historically significant inter-war commercial building with unusually narrow proportions for a “comparatively tall building”.

Fragrance Group, founded by billionaire property mogul James Koh, owns the state’s largest hotel, ibis Styles on Macquarie St.

In 2019, the council rejected the company’s controversial proposal to build a 55-metre-high hotel on Collins St.