This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
LAUNCESTON’S former TAFE college, army barracks and Turkish baths site will be transformed into a $95 million precinct with restaurants, cafés, a brewery, distillery, 5-star hotel and apartments.
Local Tasmanian developer Red Panda has been given the green light for its DKO-designed plans at the 5,300 sqm site at 10-16 Wellington Street, named reUNIÒN.
Apartments will be priced from $1.5 million and be comprised of a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments, with owners to have access to an “five-star airport lounge” with formal dining, library, workspace, and formal lounge.
The project is surrounded by just the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, which has a pending $70 million overhaul pending, and Royal Park, offering a natural linkage between Launceston CBD and world-renowned Cataract Gorge, as well as seaport area.
The hotel is planned to begin construction and will be a much-needed addition to Launceston’s bulging accommodation requirements. There is currently a short list of 17 global hotel operators vying for the one on the globe’s hottest accommodation markets, according to Red Panda. A decision on the final operator will be made in the coming months.
“As a passionate advocate for Tasmania, I am proud of the vision this project has for the future of the Launceston area. It will reinvent the community with natural pedestrian and bike flow, bustling cafes and restaurants, and bring in visitors from both inter-state and overseas,” said Red Panda CEO Andrew McCullagh.
Lead architect Dominic Gaetani, senior associate at DKO, is a local Tasmanian himself and believes reUNIÒN will breathe new life into the area and add to the community.
“Having grown up in the area, this project is of personal importance to me and the care our team have taken to deliver a significant project that will add to the local community is evident,” he said.
Elsewhere in Launceston, Fragrance Group, a division of Global Premium Hotels has put forward a scaled-down application for joint hotels Cimitiere Street sites. The Warehouse Hotel, on the corner of Tamar Street, has been reduced from 12 to nine storeys, and to 179 rooms with a restaurant and bar on the ground floor, and function rooms, gym and spa, while the Boutique Hotel, on the corner site of William and Tamar streets that is currently occupied by the Clarion Hotel and historic stables, would have 55 rooms.
