Way Cleared for 226-Key Airport Hotel at Perth

A 15-storey hotel has been cleared for a Perth riverside suburb that neighbours the city airport, which is itself in line for major upgrades.

The 226-key hotel at Ascot, an eastern Perth suburb on the south bank of the Swan River, was lodged for the site at 250 Great Eastern Highway in June. 

It was approved by the WA Development Assessment Panel this month, but not without a fight.

The hotel was initially recommended for refusal due to it not being “compatible with its setting or with the amenity of the locality” in terms of “size, setback and appearance”. 

However, the DAP decided at its meeting this month that the development would be conditionally approved with amended plans.

Those amendments include horizontal screening overlooking adjoining properties, public art and other stipulations relating to carparking and other issues. 

The DAP said that the proposal and land use were consistent with the planning framework, and approved the development.

The Scanlan Architects-designed development proposes rooms on levels one, as well as between levels four and 13, with 22 serviced apartments on levels two and three. 

Property Development (WA), the sole director of which is listed as Angela Tilli, filed the plans for the Wyndham Hotel, on the site that is owned by Strive Pty Ltd.

The asset includes a rooftop restaurant and bar on level 14 with room for 119 patrons, ground-floor bar and hotel reception, gym, swimming pool, meeting rooms and outdoor terraces.

Two basement levels will offer 132 carparking spaces. 

The Belmont RSL Club and a strip of hotels and apartments are north-east of the site, which is also near the nine-storey Quest Perth Ascot, a serviced apartment building, as well as the Ascot Precinct comprising restaurants, offices and recreational uses. 

Ascot is next to Perth Airport, which is undergoing a major transformation. Plans last month were unveiled for a multibillion-dollar revamp that would centralise flight services and update terminals.

The same week, Perth Airport announced it planned to develop non-aviation land in its portfolio under its Skyfields banner, creating five precincts for employment and residential purposes.