Perth Voice Interactive

THE Melbourne Hotel will (probably) be redeveloped to the tune of $40 million after a few stalled starts over the years.

In 2011 owners Oakesfield put forward a plan for a $30m refurbishment and construction of 17 levels of offices above the circa 1897 hotel. That didn’t end up going ahead, following in the footsteps of expired plans from 2008 and 2010.

But now Oakesfield is back with a 20-level office design that went to the Perth development assessment panel this week with a recommendation for approval.

The hotel was constructed during the gold rush and, according to Heritage Perth “what makes this building so special is the fact that it has hardly changed in appearance since it was built”.

“Built by an unknown architect, the Melbourne, on its corner site, demonstrates the confidence and opulence of hotels built during the first gold boom in Perth.”

Some modern bits of the hotel (built in 1997) will be demolished to make room, but given the historic significance the DAP wants to ensure the heritage isn’t flattened by the towering modern office block jutting from above. The owners must enter an agreement with the state heritage office to ensure “ongoing conservation and maintenance” of the hotel, an archival record will have to be prepared, and they’ll have to “interpret” the new floor to make it look like the old 1897 one.

by DAVID BELL