Canberra Labor Club applies to develop new 90-room hotel in Belconnen

A development application has been lodged for a 12-storey, 90-room hotel next to the Belconnen Labor Club.

According to the DA, lodged to the ACT Planning and Land authority by the Canberra Labor Club, the proposed hotel will replace two vacant three-storey office buildings.

The 1530-square-metre site is immediately south of the Labor Club site, with street frontages to Chandler Street, Cameron Avenue and Edmondstone Place.

If given the green light, the $29.6 million development will feature restaurant and commercial space on the ground floor, four levels of podium car parking, five levels of hotel suites and two levels of commercial or office space on the top two floors.

The application proposes a lease variation to remove gross floor area limitations for restaurants and recreation facilities.

An existing basement car park will remain and the basement will also offer complementary facilities including a conference room and gym.

“The proposal will also complement the operations of the University of Canberra by improving the availability of commercial accommodation within the Belconnen Town Centre,” the application said.

“Such accommodation could be used by the friends and family of graduating students as well as students enrolled in intensive/residential schools, which are conducted over short continuous periods, such as term breaks.”

The DA said the site is positioned within the Cameron Avenue character precinct, as defined by the Belconnen Master Plan.

According to the master plan, this area “will undergo significant change from largely surfaced car parks to an area dominated by well-designed taller residential development”.

“This also offers an opportunity to provide better integration with the University of Canberra,” the plan said.

Section 200, the large site to the east of the club, slated for a $500 million mixed-use precinct, is also positioned in the area.

The DA said the proposed hotel will “activate the street frontages and improve the character of public spaces adjoining the subject site”.

“The design is in a contemporary style that will complement the town centre locality by being a high quality, architecturally designed building, that will be constructed from durable high quality materials,” it said.

Plans for a 150-room hotel at the site were discussed in 2013.

The Canberra Labor Club was contacted for comment. The development application is open for public feedback until November 23.