Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s long-awaited plans for the Spicer carpark site in the heart of Fremantle have been revealed as a $35 million, six-storey boutique hotel.
If approved, the 2834sqm carpark site adjacent to the Fremantle Markets — once home to the Spicer & Detmold building — will become home to a 117-room boutique hotel.
The proposal will include shops, basement parking for 48 cars and a rooftop terrace with a swimming pool.
The plans by the Forrest’s Fiveight property division is the latest of several proposals from Perth’s biggest names seeking to transform the port city.
The Prendiville family has plans to open a new hospitality precinct in the old technical school, while Angela Bennett has previously revealed plans for an apartment complex at Fishing Boat Harbour and Adrian Fini wants to develop the Italian Club .
Head of Fiveight John Meredith said there was “some way to go” before Fremantle had fully emerged from its slump of recent years.
He said the commercial property group saw Fremantle as a great place to invest as it is faced a 30 to 50-year transformation.
The design brief given to architects Smart Design Studio was to create a building that was sympathetic to historic buildings in the precinct.
Mr Meredith said the hotel would be constructed in a U-shape, and would include a mix of room types, including six rooms designed for disabled access and more than three quarters with balconies.
A generously sized courtyard space included a circular oculus open to the sky.
“We have focused on ensuring that the building’s height and scale considers the existing urban fabric and enhances existing linkages around the site and into the building itself,” he said. “Ultimately, we will create a premium hotel with mixed-use facilities that can be enjoyed by tourists, business visitors and locals alike.”
Tattarang chief executive Andrew Hagger said it would become a “destination hotel” that would sat comfortably alongside the port’s historic architecture.
“We have worked closely with the architects to create a lifestyle hotel concept that draws on Fremantle’s unique character and attitude to create a landmark building that brings people together,” he said.
A development application has been submitted to the City of Fremantle.
The Spicer site is covered by amendment 49 of the Local Planning Scheme, approved in 2012, which allows additional building heights at key redevelopment sites around the city, subject to satisfying certain design and heritage criteria.
The site is allowed a maximum building height of 21m in one section, and 17.5m on another.
It is uncertain how many metres high the boutique hotel will be, but it is understood to broadly meet the planning regulations.
If approved by relevant authorities, construction would begin in a year, and the hotel would open in 2025.
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