The Hobart City Council has approved a 13-storey hotel building on Macquarie Street.
The council’s planning committee unanimously approved Fragrance Group’s $16 million extension to the ibis Styles on Wednesday night.
The building will replace a three-storey office block between the Travelodge and the ibis. Part of the Travelodge will also be demolished.
The tower is about eight metres taller than the height limits for the site. Council officers recommended it be approved.
They found it matches the height of the ibis, sits below the Commonwealth building behind it and does not intrude into protected view lines.
In exchange for the extra height, Fragrance must put public art worth at least $160,000 on the building’s Macquarie Street facade.
The other option is to pay that amount towards an art project elsewhere in the CBD.
The tower’s top six floors will hold 36 serviced apartments. They will connect directly to the neighbouring ibis, which Fragrance also owns.
The Singapore-based developer told the council the apartments would give visitors an alternative to short-stay rentals in converted homes.
Councillor Bill Harvey, who moved the motion, said the city needed more visitor accommodation.
“I’m happy to see some hotel rooms added and I can’t see any downside to approving this,” he said.
The building will also include 105 car spaces. Fragrance says they will address a parking shortage at the ibis, which it says has 225 rooms and 38 spaces.
