Designs revealed for proposed $30 million Middleton Beach hotel

Eight cascading storeys, draping greenery, a rooftop beer garden and a pool overlooking the ocean are some of the finer details of a proposed $30 million vision for a new Middleton Beach hotel. The first concept designs for the highly anticipated development were unveiled by Premier Mark McGowan and Lands Minister John Carey at Middleton Beach on Friday. The proposed hotel — to be delivered by Pacifica Ausglobal — would have 66 suites across eight storeys, with a combination of one, two and three bedrooms. The ground floor would feature retail stores, and food and beverage facilities designed for locals, visitors and guests. There would be a public roof terrace on the second level. Seashells Group is set to operate the hotel, joining its apartment-style hotel accommodation in Broome, Fremantle, Mandurah, Scarborough and Yallingup. The plans are being reviewed by the State Design Review Panel — a committee chaired by the WA Government Architect to provide independent advice on major development proposals. Pacifica director John Zendler said the proposed hotel’s design was “sympathetic to the environment” with curved, cascading storeys and greenery that blended into Mt Adelaide. The concept plans show the hotel is inspired by Mt Adelaide’s topography and the natural shapes, granite and erosion along Albany’s coast, including landmark The Gap. It would have a “sand-blasted concrete facade” with hammered concrete, weathered timber and corten steel. “Natural earthy toned high-end materials, soft organic forms and rich native planting are proposed, to achieve a welcoming warm atmosphere,” the plan said. Mr Zendler said the hotel would feature greenery and natural materials. “It is designed to be very, very environmentally responsible, so in terms of the services and the types of building materials that we use,” he said. “We want those high levels just to feel like they are blending into the back of the hill.” The suites were “large and spacious” with kitchens and dining areas, designed for longer leisure stays, Mr Zendler said. “The (suites) getting up to the top floor are large three-bedroom suites with 100sqm rooftop balconies,” he said. Mr Zendler said the design of the hotel was “all about activation of the ground level” opening out on to the foreshore. “It is a known fact that when people come to a town like Albany or any regional area, they want to go where the locals go, they want to connect with locals,” he said. “So we are trying to design a hotel that will bring locals to engage at a ground level and then the hotel guests get to feed off that energy.” The ground floor would include a cafe and retail outlets geared towards health. “Then you’ve got your big great replacement of the Esplanade — a big bar and restaurant,” Mr Zendler said. “Then on a second level is a big rooftop beer garden ... that can also be used for function spaces.” Mr Zendler said 180 car bays were proposed for the hotel, with 80 on-site. It would be negotiated with the City to buy a further 100 bays off-site, he said. “That was a big tussle to get to this point with parking— it was a compromise in the end,” he said. “Otherwise, the first four levels of the building would have been carpark. “We will work with the City. “They’ve got lots of land around here ... and we will pay and they will own that carpark, we are just contributing towards it financially.” If the development gains the support of the State Design Review Panel, a formal development application will be lodged with the City of Albany, with the public given a chance to have their say. Developers aim to have the hotel under construction in early 2023 and operating in 2024. The construction phase is expected to create about 180 new jobs. Speaking on Friday, Mr McGowan said Albany continued to be an attractive tourism destination. “(The hotel is designed to ensure that it’s attractive and appealing, and will attract tourists not just from WA, but around Australia and potentially the world,” he said. “We are very excited by this development, this is exactly the sort of thing that regional communities like Albany need.” Mr Carey said it was a “huge investment for Albany” and he was confident about the project. “This is an incredible site in Albany, right on the beach to have a premiere hotel with a beautiful cascading design — I think tourists will snap at it,” he said. Mr Carey said he understood WA was facing a “heated construction market” but it was expected to slow over the next two years. “Ultimately we have got to get planning approval first but then the developer will obviously have to go through the contracting process,” he said. “But I do say this, the advice overall from the construction (sector) is, we are going through a boom. “We’ve got a booming economy, booming housing market but over the next 6-18 months we are going to see a decline in construction and that creates opportunities for new development.” In December 2020, it was revealed the WA Government had sold the 3700sqm site to Pacifica Developments and Ausglobal Group. The site was sold for about $1m, after the Barnett government bought it for $7m in 2014. It was a long wait to find a buyer for the prime spot in front of the vacant site of the old Esplanade Hotel, which was built by entrepreneur Paul Terry in 1991. After Mr Terry died in a freak helicopter crash in Hawaii in 1993, the Esplanade Hotel was sold to a Singaporean development company which demolished it in 2007. It has sat empty since then. Plans to develop a new hotel were scrapped in 2008 when the global financial crisis hit. Once bought by the WA Government in 2014 the 13,171sqm site became known as the Middleton Beach Activity Centre. The first stage of the medium-density, mixed-use project is set to be the construction of “Duette” terrace-style townhouses on Flinders Parade which were approved by City of Albany councillors in August last year.