ApartmentsChris ThomsonFri 22 May 26
Cost Blowout Stalls Cottesloe’s Ocean Beach Hotel Overhaul
A $120-million blowout to the projected $200-million cost of demolishing and redeveloping a landmark Perth hotel has driven developer Stan Quinlivan to seek a three-year extension for the ocean-front project.
In 2021, Quinlivan filed plans to demolish the Ocean Beach Hotel at Perth’s best-known beach—Cottesloe—and replace it with two 12-storey towers and a single 10-storey tower.
The development, designed by Hillam Architects, envisages 204 apartments, 121 hotel rooms,1428sq m of retail tenancies, 2017sq m of food and beverage outlets and a 198sq m day spa across Marine Parade from the popular beach.
The plans were approved by the WA Planning Commission on June 29, 2023, with a stipulation that the project start within three years. With that deadline now nearly up, Quinlivan has asked for three more years.
“At the time of lodging the original application in December 2021, the estimated construction cost was less than $200 million, whereas this has now increased to approximately $320 million,” his application said.
“However, since June 2023, there has been continuing escalation in construction costs and challenging conditions to secure the appropriately skilled and scaled construction workforce in the context of competition with numerous large scale public infrastructure projects.”
Earlier this year, the WA Government fended off criticism from the development industry and the state Opposition that prioritising public infrastructure (such as the massive Metronet public transport project) over housing had whisked workers away from the residential sector amid a housing crisis.
Quinlivan’s application said there was nothing to suggest that, having spent $2.5 million on design and consultant fees, he had sought to warehouse his project’s development approval.
For generations, the exisiting hotel, colloquially known as The OBH, has been a favourite haunt of farming folk visiting the WA capital for shopping and a holiday by the sea.
Quinlivan was contacted for comment for this story. Public comment on his requested three-year extension is due to close on June 3.
