LANDMARK hotel The Red Castle Motor Hotel in Rivervale will be transformed into a 55-apartment residential development.
Well known for its castle-style design, the hotel has been owned by Sin-Aus Enterprises for the past six years and has been in operation for the past 30 years.
Sin-Aus Enterprises managing director and owner Celia Wee said she had originally wanted to turn the 1.2-hectare site into a large hotel but was unable to proceed with the plan after discovering the site was zoned residential.
Ms Wee told WA Business News Sin-Aus Enterprises had incorporated a new company called Red Castle Pty Ltd to develop the site with the backing of a syndicate of local business people.
She said that the castle façade on the sixth floor would be retained as a landmark, while the motel side of the hotel will be demolished to make way for a three-storey apartment development.
“Council wanted to knock it down but I said ‘no way’,” Ms Wee said.
The company also has plans for a large residential development for its prime riverside hotel property, Ascot Airport Inn.
Ms Wee said the company was waiting on development approval from the City of Belmont to build a 140-apartment development on the 2.4ha site.
“This development would really enhance and upgrade the whole of the Ascot,” Ms Wee said.
She said several people wanting to develop the site had approached her, but nobody had come up with the right plans or design.
“Most wanted to chop the site up, that is why I have been sitting on it and refusing to sell it,” Ms Wee said.