Riverlee Adds Office Block to Hobart Cultural Hub Plans

Riverlee has filed plans for a $74-million commercial building in the heart of the Tasmanian capital.

The Melbourne property group wants to “strengthen Hobart’s position as a primary activity centre” with the project, according to plans filed with the Hobart City Council. 

The mixed-use building planned for 25 Watchcorn Street would offer two commercial ground floor tenancies, one on Watchcorn Street and the other on theBathurst Street, with seven levels of office space above. 

If approved, the project would be part of Riverlee’s In the Hanging Garden precinct that incorporates culturally significant buildings including the historic Odeon Theatre, the former Tattersalls Hotel and Hobart’s first licensed venue, the Mona Lisa Restaurant. 

The precinct also include a 9000sq m cultural and live music hub in collaboration with MONA.

The site location is characterised by a mixture of heritage and infill development, the Ireneinc Planning application said. 

But there are also several contemporary buildings and new developments, including 126 Bathurst Street, an eight-storey apartment building.

▲ The wider In the Hanging Garden precinct covers a city block, and was opened during Dark Mofo in 2019.

Fender Katsalidis is designing the office block, as well as the Hanging Gardens precinct. 

Riverlee was founded by Clement Lee, who was awarded the Lachlan Webb Lifetime Achievement Award at The UrbanDeveloper’s Awards for Industry Excellence this year. 

He and Riverlee have been investing in Tasmania since 2001, and began acquiring lands for the Hanging Gardens precinct in 2004. It was made via 14 separate transactions. 

Investor interest from the mainland and overseas in Hobart has been on the rise and includes 155-key, $65-million hotel plan by Chinese company Chambroad, which will be assessed by an independent panel after the Tasmanian government declared it a ‘major project’.

As well, a CBD hotel has submitted plans for a $9-million revamp while a ‘transformational’ 12-storey tower was approved earlier this year.