The Singaporean owners of Scarborough’s iconic Rendezvous Observation City want to redevelop the 18-storey tower into a luxury residential apartment block in a $100 million plan that includes a new, eight-level, five-star hotel on the site.
The Singaporean owners of Scarborough’s iconic Rendezvous Observation City want to redevelop the 18-storey tower into a luxury residential apartment block in a $100 million plan that includes a new, eight-level, five-star hotel on the site.
The plan by The Straits Trading Company Ltd, which also owns the Rendezvous Hotels International chain, promises to transform the ageing site into a thriving mixed-use precinct, while significant changes are mooted for the area.
The City of Stirling will meet with prominent Perth architectural and planning firm Hassell this week to discuss the proposal, which Straits Trading believes will fit within the planning rules governing what has long been a controversial area.
The beachfront site has its own chequered history – following its WA Inc-mired construction by Alan Bond in 1986 – and adjoins several sites where approval delays have occurred due to height issues.
With Observation City’s glory days long over and stringent five-star hotel standards harder to maintain, it is understood the owners had little choice but to start from scratch, designing a new world-class hotel while taking advantage of the 11,467 square metre site’s rare vista and mixed-use zoning to build apartments.
Observation City became Straits Trading’s first property acquisition in Australia when it paid $45.5 million for the complex in March 1994, significantly less than the $140 million Mr Bond spent to build it in the wake of his 1983 America’s Cup win.
Since the purchase, the owner has twice refurbished the 333-room hotel, the last makeover occurring in 2005.
The redevelopment plan comes just days before the Stirling City Council considers the long-awaited report on Amendment 458, which proposes changes to the district planning scheme. The changes would allow developments of up to eight storeys in a defined area east of West Coast Highway – the busy beach commercial precinct at the end of Scarborough Beach Road.
The most contentious part of the amendment is the possibility of allowing 12-storeys at three specific sites along West Coast Highway in Scarborough, currently occupied by the Scarborough Fair Markets, BP Service Station and the White Sands Hotel.
The scheme would require approval from the state government, which has imposed an eight-storey limit on all buildings within 300 metres of the coast.
Since the scheme amendment proposal was raised last year, many Scarborough residents and beach-goers have raised concerns about the impact of high-rise development.
Stirling Mayor Terry Tyzack told WA Business News the amendment would be fiercely debated on May 8 and he was not confident of the outcome.
“If it’s approved I don’t think we’ll see instant development there. It’s likely that smaller land owners in the area will sell out to larger developers with a better capacity to make the most of the sites,” Mr Tyzack said.
During the past 30 years, Mr Tyzack said, there had been numerous planning schemes proposed for the Scarborough Beach area which had not transpired due to lack of will by applicants, the city council and the state government.
This trend changed in late 2003 when amendment 457 was proposed, which was to cap development at eight-storeys along the beachfront. The amendment was finally gazetted in March last year.
Before the amendment, Mr Tyzack said, the beachfront had no zoning at all, which required developers to “run the gauntlet” of gaining development approval at the government’s discretion.
“Since the new zoning has been introduced we’ve had a lot of discussions with property owners who want to build mixed-use developments down there, which is encouraging,” he said.
The most significant develop-ment approved has been Cape Bouvard’s $150 million CeVue Apartments, on the corner of Brighton Road and The Esplanade, which is expected to start its sales campaign next month.
The eight-storey building will incorporate 78 apartments, 21 short-stay apartments, office space and retail/cafe at ground level.
Among preliminary proposals presented to the city in recent months, owners of the large beachfront block on the corner of Manning Street and The Esplanade, the Kakulas family, hope to reactivate the restaurant strip containing their Peters by the Sea eatery with new outlets and residential development.
Owners of the Luna site opposite the hotel are also understood to be considering an eight-storey staged mixed-use development.
Mr Tyzack said the council would meet shortly with new chief executive Stuart Jardine to discuss how the city could implement its master plan.
