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Starfish Development given approval to build $10.9 million Hotel on site of cottages in Wright St, Adelaide
Celeste Villani, City Editor, The City
August 13, 2020 4:30pm

A heritage-listed cottage will be partially demolished to make way for a 17-storey motel in the CBD.

The state’s peak planning body yesterday gave Starfish Developments approval to build the $10.9m tower, at 134-136 Wright St.

The motel, to be operated by the Punthill Apartment Group, will be built on top of three single-storey bluestone row cottages built in 1880.

The cottage at 134 Wright St is locally heritage-listed.

The development will include 100 rooms varying in size from 25sq m to 72sq m, a gym, three car park spaces and a rooftop terrace. The building will stand at 57.7m tall – 14.7m above the maximum height for the area.

“On balance, whilst the proposed development exceeds the maximum envisaged height, the development does retain the local heritage place and abutting character fronted row dwellings,” a report to the State Commission Assessment Panel said.

A report to the panel said the bluestone cottages were in a poor state

Approval at Wednesday’s panel meeting comes despite concerns from government architect Kirsteen Mackay, who wrote the development was too tall and out of character with the street. The building is near the 23-storey Bohem apartments.

Starfish Developments was contacted for comment.

The Messenger

noted wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 14, 2020 8:38 am

Is this the first time in Adelaide we have seen bluestone cottages integrated into a new development? Can't think of any off the top of my head.

Rodeo wrote:Hi All , I have been following the comments of the government architect , as quoted in the media and the various SCAP links people posting on SA have put up .
I wonder how many architects under the duress of their clients time lines make detrimental design decisions in order to appease the GA so they get an approval .
I found a YouTube link , which in my opinion clears up perhaps what the GA is thinking when saying "yet to be convinced" .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gls09kO-8DE

Plans for a 17-storey hotel development in the CBD have been shelved, with the developer looking to offload the site after a series of delays.

The Hotel on Wright Street project, near the north-eastern corner of Whitmore Square, secured planning approval in 2020, and was to include a $10.9m tower with 100 hotel rooms, a gym and rooftop terrace.

Construction had been expected to commence in October, two years after initially planned, but the 490sq m site has now been put on the market by developer Kite, which is looking for another developer to take over the project.

Kite managing director Damon Nagel said the property came with development approvals, and buyers also had the option of taking on an agreement with operator Punthill Apartment Group.

Mr Nagel said a restructure of his company last year meant the focus was now on other projects, including two major housing projects in Adelaide’s inner north and at McLaren Flat.

“It’s more of a situation rather than a project thing,” he said.

“I still really like it and we’ve got an agreement that if it doesn’t hit a certain hurdle mark then I’ll probably buy it, but I will shelve it for probably about 18 months.

“We’ve got two new really cracking sites as well. There’s a lot of big companies out there all pitching for these big masterplans, and we’ve flown under the radar and just picked up these little 50, 70 (allotment)-type scenarios.”

Approved plans for the hotel project allow for the partial demolition of a set of bluestone row cottages at 134 and 136 Wright St, including one built in 1880 and listed on the Adelaide City Council’s local heritage register.

The development was one of several CBD hotel projects delayed as a result of Covid-19, as developers revised their plans amid the uncertainty surrounding the return of interstate and international travel.

Construction of a Hyatt hotel on Pirie was pushed back to the second half of this year, but is still yet to start, while a $48m Travelodge on Bentham St has also been delayed several times.

However, several new hotels are currently under construction, including the $45m Vibe hotel on Flinders St, the $200m Marriott hotel at the GPO site and the $35m TRYP by Wyndham hotel on Pulteney St.

Kite is currently overseeing several housing projects including its Hamilton Hill development at Woodforde and Dock One at Port Adelaide.

Expressions of interest in the Wright St site close on December 23.