Melbourne Hotel earmarked for 13-storey office tower

The Singapore-based owner of Hay Street's Melbourne Hotel has lodged a development application with the City of Perth to build a 13-storey office tower adjoining the heritage-listed building.

The $30 million project, comprising 10,000 square metres of A-Grade office space, is proposed to be built over a portion of two adjacent car rental sites - Budget Rent-A-Car and City Centre Car Rentals.

A four-level car park with 58 tenant parking bays will be built in the podium of the building, while about 40 rooms in the three-storey hotel have been pegged for refurbishment, with some to be demolished and new rooms to be built.

The proposal could not have been more timely for the hotel's owner, Oakesfield Pte Ltd, given the Perth CBD is experiencing its tightest office market in decades and A-Grade office rents have surpassed $800/sqm.

Oakesfield Pte Ltd acquired a 50 per cent stake in the Budget site and purchased the City Centre site outright at the same time it bought the hotel in October 2006, according to Perth Cityscope.

The 3.5 star hotel has previously undergone refurbishments, which were completed in 2003 at a total cost of around $8 million.

Previous additions to the Hay Street façade are now to be removed and a conservatory linking the hotel and office tower will be built.

The project, which is being undertaken by The Buchan Group and Design One Consultancy, is yet to receive approval from the City of Perth and the Heritage Council of WA.

Singapore-based Oakesfield Pte Ltd is directed by brothers Daniel and Richard Tan, who previously owned the Commodore Hotel.