WELCOME HIPSTERS

Units, wine bar to replace inner-city pub

HOBART’S inner-city Welcome Stranger Hotel is set to make way for a $30 million, 45m-high apartment tower — complete with a “poker machine-free wine bar”.

Developers Hexa Group will today unveil their plan for the Davey St site, which has been home to a simple pub since 1833.

Hexa spokesman Ian Whitehouse said he understood the history — and that was why a wine bar was included in the new building, set to be about the same height as the Hydro Building.

A $30 MILLION apartment tower has been proposed for the site of Hobart’s Welcome Stranger Hotel.

Developers Hexa Group today will unveil their plan for the prime Davey St site.

The proposal includes 52 apartments and two levels of retail space in a 45m-tall building, slightly shorter than the Hotel Grand Chancellor.

Hexa spokesman Ian Whitehouse said the development would create about 100 jobs while being built and would help address the city’s housing squeeze.

“Hobart’s population is booming. The project will help address housing supply and urban sprawl, providing a total of 52 extra units. An underground car park will provide space for 61 cars,” he said.

“The Welcome Stranger has always been a place where locals have gone to share a drink and catch up with friends, and with that in mind, the developer has created a proposal that would see retail, residential and community spaces blend seamlessly with the surrounding area to increase community amenity and provide for Hobart’s growing population.

“Instead of a public bar and poker machines, it is proposed that one of the new tenants of the retail space will be a poker machine-free wine bar.”

He said the height of the building was unremarkable, being consistent with the planning scheme and other buildings nearby.

“The development sits well with the Mantra Building and the Telstra Exchange building that are on the opposite side of Davey St,” he said.

“It’s also near the prominent tower near the Conservatorium of Music and other significant buildings nearby, such as 144 Macquarie St and the Travelodge Hotel, which is a few doors up Harrington St.”

He said a development application would be submitted to the Hobart City Council this week. Subject to approvals, construction at the site would begin in 2020.

A pub has stood on the site since 1833, previously known as The Freemasons Hotel.

The demolition of the Welcome Stranger would remove 24 poker machines from the Hobart CBD.

Master Builders Association Tasmania executive director Matthew Pollock said increasing residential density in the city was a good way to fight suburban sprawl.

“Urban infill developments will become increasingly important to service a growing population, to limit urban sprawl and to take some pressure off infrastructure,” he said.

A public information session on the development is scheduled on Friday, from 47pm, at the Welcome Stranger.