HotelsClare BurnettThu 20 Aug 26
Pellicano Shelves Office Approval at Fitzroy for $41.5m Hotel Proposal
Pellicano Group is reassessing its high-profile Smith Street office development at Fitzroy, filing a proposal to convert it to a hotel.
The prolific developer had planned a mixed-use retail and office project at 1 Smith Street, 3km east of the Melbourne CBD near the Victorian capital’s major universities and parklands.
The 11-storey office was approved in 2021 to deliver flexible office space with floorplans from 301 square metres.
While some developers are making office work, others are changing tack—including V-Leader that last week revealed plans for a student accommodation proposal instead of its planned $400 million offices—and Pellicano is no exception.
Its planning report said the now-proposed 14-storey project was “generally consistent” with the existing approval, revitalising an underutilised “strategic” 861sq m site at the gateway to the Smith Street Activity Centre next to Collingwood.
With an estimated development cost of $41.5 million, the application is being assessed via the Development Facilitation Program.
Designed by Six Degrees Architects with planning by Urbis, the ground floor of the building would accommodate retail and food and beverage uses.
Level 3 would be dedicated to a wellness centre and a rooftop terrace also proposed. The remaining levels would comprise the 127-key hotel.
The Yarra City Council has already indicated that the hotel use would be acceptable for the site, as would a height increase.
The residential hotel use provides extended in-room facilities to cater for longer guest durations and would be tailored towards business and travel customers seeking longer-term accommodation, it said.
The site is vacant after the demolition of a building on site in mid-2023. According to Cotality’s RP Data, the site last sold in 2019 for $10.85 million.
The neighbourhood is transitioning from older industrial sites into a mixed-use area which repurposes those buildings as well as contemporary new buildings.
Pellicano Group has been doubling down on its Queensland presence in recent years with major projects in the works including a 570-unit South Brisbane development, a Maroochydore build-to-rent project and a proposal for a 25-storey Spring Hill tower as well as its South City Square precinct.
The Fitzroy project marks a refocus on Melbourne, where it has its Common Grounds development at Moorabbin and the 17 Bennetts Lane commercial precinct in central Melbourne.
