Windsor Hotel tower will go up after getting go-ahead
by Leon Gettler
The much talked about $330 million redevelopment of one of Melbourne's most famous landmarks, the Hotel Windsor will finally go ahead.
The developer, the Halim Group, secured a three-year extension to its 2010 planning permit allowing for the construction of a new, shiny 26-storey tower. The 133 year old hotel will also be renovated.
The permit was due to expire in January 2017 but the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal extended it to March 31, 2020.
Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne refused to grant an extension to the permit.
The minister told the Halims to "get on with construction". He said they could seek an extension when the permit expired.
Not so, said the Halims. They said they needed an extension to the permit in order to secure a builder or mortgage financing.
The tribunal sided with the Halims.
Tribunal's deputy president, Mark Dwyer, said the minister's claim the developer had enough time to construct its tower and north wing extension, first approved in 2010, did not take into account the commercial realities for planning for these sorts of complex projects.
Mr Dwyer went so far as to say the original four years given to complete and finish the project was simply not long enough.
The project, he said, required both planning and heritage permits, and both covered different time periods. The result: a project that was “out of sync”.
"The largely uncontested evidence is that a project of this size and complexity requires a construction time of [3 years] to [3.5 years]. The current permit does not allow for this, and never has," Mr Dwyer said.
"A reputable lender is not going to hand over $280 million on a project, nor will a reputable builder enter into a major building contract, where the planning permit will expire before the project is due to be completed."
In a statement following its VCAT win, the Halim Group said: “The hotel will close later this year when demolition of the Bourke Street corner building resumes. The construction project will take three years."
The Andrews government will not contest the decision.
11th March 2016
